A Sudden Change
by Morrisburger
Summary: Can James control his hormones long enough to make Lily see she's not as invisible as she thinks she is? Can SHE?
1. Chapter 1

I own nothing from the Harry Potter Universe

--

Lily Evans sat in her rather uncomfortable desk in Flitwick's Charms classroom; she had finished her in-class essay in record time and she was attempting to count the tiles on the ceiling. She was having difficulty with her task because her best friend, Marlene McKinnon, was throwing balled up pieces of paper at her. No doubt she wanted to copy of Lily's more-than-likely perfect essay. Lily was counting the seconds until they were dismissed.

7 minutes left… Lily glanced around the classroom (studiously avoiding her best friend's puppy-dog eyes ). Everyone was in a similar state of panic, except her and, of course, the infamous Marauders.

If you haven't already heard of their stunning good looks, magnanimous personalities, and beyond impressive Gringott's accounts, you must be living in a bubble. Girls wanted them, guys wanted to be them, blah blah bliddy blah blah, you know the tune. Lily had to hold back a snort as her thoughts turned to the god-like Marauders.

_God-like my ass… _Lily thought, _There nothing but… but… arrogant… berks, yeah, arrogant berks. _

Although Lily was suffering from a rather acute case of denial, her assumption had some merit. Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew, it seemed, had everything handed to them. They were all disgustingly wealthy and mouth-wateringly delish. Potter was one of the most talented chasers on the Gryffindor quidditch team; Black had the highest average of their year without having to lift a finger (he beat Lily by a third of a percent, A FREAKIN' THIRD OF A PERCENT! Lily had yet to forgive him. Not that it really mattered, they were on completely different social rungs, he probably didn't even know her name, but still, a third of a percent…). Pettigrew, although not necessarily the sharpest crayon in the box, had an innocent teddy bear allure that hid a very mischievous and clever pranking mind.

Lily sighed, thinking some people had such an easy life. She shouldn't really complain. Although her father had passed away when she was young, she had a wonderful mother. She even got along with her sister on some occasions. Although Petunia was rather petty around her friends (not to mention her beluga-whale of a boyfriend) she tolerated Lily's… abnormalities by saying she attended a private school for geniuses instead of the magically inclined. Lily also had Marlene. Although Marlene was as much a social leper as Lily, she had a sharp sense of humour that rivaled Lily's own sarcastic wit. Besides Marlene, Lily had her intelligence, her drawing, her mad love of The Eagles and Steeleye Span, not to mention a singing voice that could rival pretty much anyone (not that any person besides her Mom and Mar knew of her talents, she was painfully shy.)

"Alright class, pass your essays up front. Remember your name this time, Pettigrew."

The Marauders snickered and punched Peter's shoulder good-naturedly. His forgetfulness was a long-standing joke among them. As they stood up to leave, you could practically hear peoples' eyes following them. Because they set the standard for 'cool' around Hogwarts, most of the population followed their daily schedule. It was actually creepy, if you took the time to think about it. Most people didn't, except for a certain redhead, who eyed the adoring mob with something akin to disdain. Lily sighed, stood up, and prepared herself for Mar's upcoming tirade about how the able folks should help their friends in dire situations.

" Lils! You know, one of these days you are going to need help with Care of Magical Creatures and I won't want to be of assistance to you!" Marlene had a way with animals; Lily always thought that if she spent half as much time in the library as in the Forbidden Forest, she would even outscore Black.

"I know, and when that day comes, I will forgive you for letting me be eaten by a manticore or whatever. Anyway, I'm sure you did great."

This rather trite comment earned her a glare that soon faltered, leaving the girls in a laughing fit. They could never stay mad at each other. They meandered to the Great Hall, in eager anticipation for a delectable lunch. As they neared the hall, they heard a large crowd laughing, and this could only mean one thing—the Marauders were fooling around. Sure enough, James and Sirius were having a pseudo-duel. Before Lily could think of a witty remark about their lack of maturity, a tall, messy-haired, muscular boy careened into her. She yelped as they crumpled to the floor. She blinked as she stared into the most gorgeous eyes she had ever seen, James Potter's eyes.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry, here, let me help you up." James said, getting up and holding out his hand.

"No, I'm fine. Really." Lily got up, wiped herself of, and glared at him. "You know, you should really watch where you're going, contrary to popular belief, you don't own these halls." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them The surrounding students were all floored, no one, especially not some little nobody, talked to James Potter that way, unless they were sinister Slytherins, but those arguments always ended with the Slytherins being sent to the Hospital wing with odd bodily protrusions.

Lily's face went bright red as she grabbed Marlene's hand and raced to the Great hall.

" Omgosh, omgosh, omgosh! Tell me that didn't just happen! Tell me you, Lily Evans, did not just tell James freakin' Potter off! Wait, stop running, I have to preserve that in my memory! That was the best thing I have ever seen!" Marlene stared at her in admiration.

"Ughhh, Marlene! Why do these things always happen to me? Dammit, I'll probably wake up tomorrow with green hair, or purple skin, or something equally disgruntling."

"Honestly, Lils, he probably doesn't even care, I bet he already went off with some trampy fifth year for some quality broom closet bonding time."

Lily contemplated Marlene's point. It was true; people like James Potter didn't waste valuable snogging and pranking time plotting because of people like Lily Evans. By the time that the food was served, Lily had rapidly rationalized away her worries. In fact, she had almost forgotten the incident when someone plunked down next to her. A very male someone. An incredibly nice smelling someone. A someone who happened to have three delinquent friends who sat beside him. A James Potter.

She stared at him in surprise, and she wasn't the only one. The populars at the other end of the table were gaping, their perfectly lip-sticked mouths forming Os. The Marauders ignored them. They loaded their plates and continued their discussion about the last quidditch final. Lily's mind was racing, should she say something? Do something? Leave? She settled on gulping down her food and motioning to Marlene to make a quick exit. Marlene got the hint and started shoveling in her food; she was no more comfortable around these annoyingly handsome boys than Lily was. When they were half way done, the blond-haired, brown-eyed heartthrob Remus Lupin spoke up.

"You know, Lily, the food's not going anywhere." The boys snickered. For heavens sake, it was like they were on a timer or something. Lily swallowed, and thinking quickly, rejoined:

"Yeah, but I am, I don't want to lose any more brain cells listening to your drivel."

Marlene chuckled into her salad.

Stupid! Lily thought. Why did she antagonize them further?

"Why, Miss Evans, such anger," Sirius Black said, "Whatever did fine fellows like us do to deserve such animosity?"

Lily, rapidly resembling a tomato, was surprised that Black even knew her name. Without thinking, she started ranting.

"Oh please, you all think you're so great, but I think you're all just bullying cowards!"

Marlene dropped her spoon in surprise while all the Marauders' eyebrows shot up.

"Picking on people, screwing around in class! And… and… and you have no respect for the rules! It's people like you four that ruin things for others!" With that rather feeble rejoinder, Lily stood up and prepared to flounce away in a huff. She would have succeeded, had she not tripped over her bag. Recovering herself, she sighed, gathering her dignity, and sauntered of to the nearest girls' washroom, with Marlene scurrying after her.

Dammit… What had she been thinking?

--

James Potter remained in his seat as the intriguing redhead flounced off, her blushing friend trailing behind her. He was quite captivated. In later years, he would ardently profess that it was as Lily was storming away that she captured his heart and ensnared his senses, but in all actuality his infatuation with her turbulent personality and unique character festered over time, growing with each look of scorn, each stare of disdain he would receive from her all through their Hogwarts years.

--

Lily loped to the girls' loo; effectively pretending she had not just committed a monstrous social faux pas. As she passed the end of the Gryffindor table, she noticed Emmeline Vance's (the pinnacle of the lipstick toting populars) look of shock. She knew this stare was mirrored on all those who had witnessed Lily's spirited, though enormously imprudent bout of antagonism. There was no doubt, Lily knew, that her —_incident_— would spread throughout the castle faster than a niffler through Gringotts'. The student population devoured Marauder-esque tidbits, ranging from their detention schedule to their favourite colour of socks. This event was sure to keep the scandal aficionados in high spirits for ages.

The girls finally made it to the washroom and stared at each other. Lily blinked. Mar's lip twitched. Next the two girls laughed harder than they could ever remember laughing before. Lily's embarrassment was released in mad screeches of mirth. She and Marlene finally quieted down, only to start up again, louder and more deranged than before. At length the girls realized they needed to be in History of Magic and left the loo without even having said a word to each other. They had always been on the same wavelength. Marlene didn't have to comfort her friend because Lily knew that the two teenagers were like a melted cauldron and the dungeon floor: stuck together no matter how hard you frantically tried to wrench them apart (preferably before Slughorn noticed).

Lily and Marlene took their usual seats in the middle of the classroom. They liked to think of this area as no man's land—far enough in front of the Marauders to ignore the sighs of longing escaping from the glossy mouths of their groupies and far enough behind the attention seeking prats frantically waving their hands in the air, fervently hoping (without success) that Professor Binns' would call on them to answer a question.

The girls were still releasing spontaneous giggles when people began meandering into the classroom, fully prepared to catch up on any slumber neglected the night before. Lily opened her notebook and copied down the date and subject in a vain attempt to pay attention. This ineffective preparation would prove hopeless because of the events about to ensue. Upon hearing a puzzled murmur go through the class, Lily glanced up, only to find, yet again, the same pair of stunning brown eyes next to her, just like in the Great Hall this morning. Although Potter said nothing, Lily did catch a conspiratorial wink shared between the gorgeous boy next to her and his equally attractive friend, Remus Lupin. Again, Lily was caught in a very complicated social conundrum. If she were to move, she would be snubbing this generation's Sun King twice in one day. If she stayed seated, who knows what disgusting bit of goo he would slip into her bag or hair in retribution for her impertinence. She decided the best course of action would be that of inaction. She adamantly stared at the blackboard.

Perhaps her decision to disregard him would have proved more effective if he hadn't been so calm. He stared at her until class started, and even after Binns started roll call. Dammit, if he was going to exact his 'revenge', why not just do it? Why this incessant gawking, like she had just grown a beard similar to Dumbledore's and announced she was Ulga the Unattractive, risen from the dead?! As the seconds ticked by, Lily grew more agitated. Just as she felt she would crack and start stabbing him with her quill, he leaned in close and whispered,

"Honestly, can you believe this guy can still teach? It should be illegal to make Hornigold's upheaval this boring."

Lily gawked at him. How dare he sit there and attempt conversation with her when not only was she as jumpy as a first year around Hagrid, but she could also feel the glares resonating from his creepy stalker/followers? She turned back to the front, just in time to catch his devilish grin. This berk knew _exactly _what he was doing to her!

Lily was certain that time had actually slowed to a halt and she would be trapped in this hell for the rest of her life. Lily was so busy attempting to ignore Potter's pathetic (and if she was honest with herself, annoyingly charming) efforts at conversation and exchanging irritated looks with Mar, she barely noticed the end of class. When she did begin to become aware of the students now emerging from their comatose and the interconnected lack of Binns' nasal voice and, she shot up, not even waiting for Mar, and sprinted to the library.

James had been revelling in Lily's discomfort. Granted, he was used to making girls blush, but this was different. He saw her get up and knew he had to follow her. James threw a salute to his friends, not missing their wiggling eyebrows and innuendos. He jogged after Lily, chuckling to himself. Did she honestly think her short (and admitingly well-formed) legs could outrun his long and quidditch muscled ones? As soon as he was sure she was heading to the library, he veered off and took a short cut. James leaned up against the doors and waited for the cute redhead who would come careening around the corner any second. He was not disappointed. She soon appeared, quite deliciously disheveled, panting to the door. As soon as Lily spotted him, she let out a squawk and skidded to a halt, catching her breath.

"Hey Lily," he said, his most appealing smile gracing his features, "You left Binns' class quickly, got a lot of work to do? Not avoiding me, I hope…"

Lily looked at him, what the hell was he trying to pull? She had underestimated him. This bizarre facsimile of a camaraderie was much more disconcerting than any prank he could have pulled.

"Of course not," she answered, "Why would I be avoiding you? I don't even know you." Hoping to get the last word, she pranced into the library. Naturally, he would not be deterred. Following her to a table, he sat down next to her.

Having rushed to the Library straight from class, she had no work supplies with her. He would surely know that she had no History of Magic homework… She decided to look for something interesting to read, in hopes that he would lose interest and wander off.

As Lily entered the stacks, she was immediately aware that she had made a mistake. There was barely enough room for one person between the shelves. Two people crammed in there were making things rather uncomfortably… intimate. She grabbed the first book she saw and prepared to push her way past him. As their eyes connected, he leaned in closer. Using the reasonable excuse of the Nazi-librarian, he whispered into her ear, "You know, we have never been properly introduced, I'm James Potter."

She almost snorted at the ridiculous situation. As if she didn't know who he was, for heaven's sake, people in Papua New-Guinea probably knew who James Potter was! Well, she wasn't going to feed his already obese ego, there was no way she was going to introduce herself.

"Alright," he said, "I'll help you. You're Lily Evans. You're a spunky little redhead. You adore Potions and you're a Charms phenomenon. You like to draw but loathe showing others your work. You like to eat mashed potatoes and peas together and you _never _wear matching socks… Have I missed anything?"

Lily was in shock, besides Marlene, no one knew all those things about her. She glanced down at her feet (which were incidentally clad in one purple sock and one white one). As she glanced back up at him, his look of arrogant charm was replaced with something else, something almost… gentle.

"You know, Lily Evans," James whispered in her ear, causing her to shiver, "some people notice you more than you think…" With that enigmatic murmur, he turned away and left the library; oblivious to both the looks of appreciation he was receiving from the other girls and to state he had left Lily in. Lily slowly replaced the irrelevant book she had hastily grabbed. Wow, she thought. Wow.

--

A few minutes later, Lily's legs had finally been able to carry her to the nearest table. What the hell had just happened? Had James Potter, THE James Potter, just… well, come on to her? She was still contemplating the absurdity of the situation a moment later when Mar waltzed out from behind a tottering bookcase. She was smiling as though Transfiguration class had been abolished and Sirius Black had asked for her hand in marriage, all in one day. Obviously, she had heard the entire interaction. She gracelessly landed in a seat, not asking, but trusting Lily would begin her tirade any second. Instead, Lily sat there with a dumbstruck look on her face.

"Wow," Lily murmured.

"Yeah…" Mar answered.

"So… Uh… I don't get the joke. What is he trying to pull?" Lily mused, a perplexed look marring her delicate features.

"Well Lils, I may not know much about flesh and blood boys, but every harlequin book I've ever read is telling me that James Potter has a soft spot for spastically inclined gingers who repeatedly tell him he's arrogant in front of large crowds of people." Mar said teasingly, having yet to lose her maniacal grin.

Lily, knowing this was nonsense, snorted at her friend's nonsensicalness and announced she was off to take a catnap. She had a free period and didn't want to run the risk of rendezvousing yet again with the infamous James Potter, her teenage hormones only able to endure so much action in one day.

Lily was wholeheartedly convinced Potter's newfound… interest had little to do with infatuation, and more to do with some brilliant, yet decidedly unusual prank. Yeah… That had to be it…

--

Mar contemplated her companion as she wandered off. Lily was the best friend a girl could ask for, but she was a tad oblivious at times. Marlene knew that even though Lily was incredibly introverted, other people couldn't help but notice her many inimitable talents and striking good looks, including, apparently, a remarkably popular James Potter. Mar had always tried not to question Lily's reticence directly, knowing Lily had her own reasons for avoiding the spotlight. Still, Marlene was happy that someone was finally taking notice of Lily, she deserved to be recognized for the wonderful person she was. With that thought, Marlene headed off to the Magical Creatures section, hoping to distract herself from the appalling in-class Charms essay she had just completed.

--

James jogged up the stairs to his dormitory with a smile on his face. His rendezvous with Lily had gone exceptionally well, the euphoria still lingering with him. He had always had a soft spot for the shy redhead, even if they had not spoken before today. She and her little brunette friend seemed different than the girls that he usually… associated with. Of course, he had never voiced his infatuation to anyone; he was James Potter. James Potter did not get warm fuzzy feelings somewhere in the vicinity of his cardio-vascular organs. James Potter played the field and arranged meaningless pranks with his equally popular and frivolous friends. Still, this stereotypical rationalization could not diminish the fact that he knew her to a T, right down to her sock preferences. He bounded into his room, pulled out a Quidditch magazine and flopped on his bed, effectively ignoring the knowing looks on his friends' faces. He knew they were impatient to know what had transpired between the admired Quidditch captain and the innocent (but decidedly curvy) bookworm. Well, they would just have to ask…

It was Sirius who cracked.

"So, did you christen any of the library tables with the lovely Miss Evans?" Sirius asked, waggling his eyebrows for good measure.

James shot him a look. Lily was not some eager tart he amused himself with and told his friends about afterwards… Remus caught his friend's annoyed look and decided to coax James into answering.

"Honestly, Padfoot," Remus joked, "As if Lily Evans would have anything to do with out dear Prongs… What was it she called him? Oh yeah, an arrogant twerp."

"Come on, Moony," Sirius replied, "Get your facts straight, she called him a pompous bully."

"You're both wrong," James retorted, "She called me a bullying coward, but she obviously meant it as a sweet nothing, she practically fell into my arms this morning!"

Sirius, Remus and Peter shared a look. Their friend was either a compelling actor or completely delusional, they were all betting on the latter. Although James believed he concealed his emotions like a pro, all three friends were aware of his fascination with one Lily Evans, if for no other reason than the fact that he changed personalities when she was within shouting distance, going from considerate comrade to egotistical prat in two seconds flat. It would have been endearing if it wasn't so pathetic.

"You do realize, Prongs," Peter said, " That she didn't really leap into your arms as much as you fell on her and she ripped you out in front of half the school."

James shot him a look, as though Peter was the one talking nonsense, rather than the other way around. Obviously his friends were unaware of the finer points of flirting. He tuned out from their conversation (which had quickly turned to Quidditch, once they realized that James wasn't going to divulge the details surrounding the library meeting.) His friends hadn't seen how Lily had reacted to him in the library. If he knew anything about girls (and he liked to think that he did), he knew when one was turned on. As he recalled her wide eyes, shallow breathing, and tousled hair, he suddenly realized he needed to leave, before he embarrassed himself in front of his friends. He grabbed his broom and told his friends he would meet them in the Great Hall for dinner. He sprinted out of his room amidst catcalls and obscene gestures, telling him his roommates hadn't missed his state of… enthusiasm.

--

Lily had decided to forgo the nap, instead favouring to retrieve her sketchbook and pencil, and distract herself from this afternoon's meeting by drawing the Giant Squid in the lake (her favourite subject). After grabbing some cookies from the Great Hall to entice the Squid, she walked down to the lake. As fate would have it, once she was set up, another student walked out of the castle and hopped on a broom. Lily looked up and swore to herself; of course he would be here. She was wondering what she had done that was so appalling to rack up such awful karma when he finally noticed her, his eyes lighting up as he sent her a jaunty wave and a hearty wink. She ignored his attention and attempted to focus on her drawing; it was a lost cause.

James glanced back at the alluring redhead. She wasn't looking at him. Well, he would have to do something about that. After running a hand through his already windswept hair, he launched into a series of flying moves that bordered on the insane, slowing down every now and then to ensure he still had Lily's attention. With each glance down, he noticed more and more people milling around under him. He was used to being the centre of attention, but he felt a small pang of annoyance that it was not just Lily and him alone anymore. After a series of complicated dives and spins, he landed on the ground, hoping to sit with Lily by the lake. He had finally begun some sort of odd connection with her after crushing on her for ages, he wanted to utilize it to his full advantage, but as he glanced around, he soon realized she had left. Dammit, he thought, why would she leave, didn't she realize I was trying to get her to notice me? As he slung his broom on his back, he heard someone approaching, turning, he saw Emmeline sauntering towards him, mouth glossed and hips sashaying. Great.

"Hey James! I was watching you and— "

James cut her off.

"Hi Em. Sorry, but have you seen Evans? I'm supposed to talk to her about... something," he finished lamely.

She shot him a curious look. "Uh, no, but I was wondering—"

James interrupted her again. "Sorry, but I have to jet, I'm kinda busy." With a rather lame wave, he walked off, leaving Emmeline rather embarrassed. He didn't have time to waste on an ex, especially one that didn't get it when a guy wasn't interested. They had gone on a couple of dates before he had broken up with her, citing each of them wanted something different from the relationship. In all actuality, he had soon realized that she bored him to tears. He needed someone who intrigued him, someone who could carry a conversation about something other than fashion and his last Quidditch victory, someone like Lily. Ah yes, Lily. He was happy with the progress they had made in the last… 2 hours, but he knew it would have to put on a hold. O.W.L.s were coming quickly, and he knew for a fact that she barricaded herself with her books in her dorm during exams. Contenting himself with the idea that he would talk to her after the stress of exams was over, he prepared to meet his friends for dinner, and maybe catch a glimpse of his favourite redhead.

--


	2. Chapter 2

I own nothing from the Harry Potter Universe

**Author's Note: Insert Snape's Worst Memory here.**

**Because there is no way to top JKR's version**

--

O God. That did not just happen, James thought to himself.

Of course you have heard about it, everyone has. Hell, you were probably there. Lily Evans had just told him off. In front of scores of people. Dozens. James glanced around at his friends; they were all shooting him similar looks of astonishment. Sirius finally grew uncomfortable with the awkwardness and suggested an impromptu game of quidditch, anything to distract James from the sudden change of events. James dully agreed to the game, the whole time Lily's passionate rant running through his head. He had just been having fun, mocking Severus Snape, the lowest of the low. After he and his friends had been released from a ridiculously effortless exam, they had ventured down to the lake, and the rest, as they say, is history.

She had been lounging by the lake, innocently talking to Marlene, not even noticing him. He had wanted to get her attention… Everyone else had thought Snape's humiliation was funny, but she had looked at him like he was a cockroach, a monster. No one, especially a girl he liked, had ever looked at him like that, like she was… disappointed in him. He dazedly retrieved his broom and forced himself to play Quidditch, if only to forgo his friends' odd looks of sympathy. No one, not even his best friends should pity him. He was James Potter, student extraordinaire and everyone's favourite guy… Right?

--

Lily numbly walked through the Forbidden Forest with Marlene. She had needed to escape the peculiar looks everyone had been shooting her, so when Mar offered to show her a nest of diricrawls that she had found the other day, Lily had leapt on the chance to escape the grounds. Of course, now that she was full of scratches and mud, she began to regret her decision. Marlene once again proclaimed that it was only a little way deeper, nothing to fear, before chatting about anything she could think of. Marlene was attempting to distract Lily from reliving her angry outburst down at the lake today, but she may as well have not even bothered; it was all Lily could think about. She had yelled at Potter for what had seemed like ages (but what had actually been two minutes) before running off in a huff. She was Lily Evans; she did not usually run off in a huff, instead favouring to avoid confrontation and blend into the background. But since Potter had waltzed into her life, she was damn near making a spectacle of herself! If he would just leave her alone…

--

James was sitting on an overstuffed chair in the Gryffindor common room, waiting for his favourite redhead to come in so he could apologize, or at least clear the air. She had left hours ago with Marlene, after the _incident_, and he had decided that they needed to talk. Everyone else was frantically studying for Transfiguration tomorrow so he had the room to himself. He heard the portrait swing open and saw an exhausted (and windswept) looking Lily drag herself over the threshold… Where had she been, he wondered to himself as he prepared to apologize for one of the first times in his life.

--

Lily unsuccessfully attempted to evade stumbling over her feet as she pushed the portrait open, half-asleep. If Marlene had been hoping to distract Lily by pushing her past the brink of exhaustion, she had definitely succeeded. Although she had been distracted by thoughts of her earlier tirade, Lily had had a blast in the Forest with Marlene, as per usual. It was impossible to remain unaffected when Marlene was so animated. She had almost (but not quite) forgotten her shocking social suicide, instead being fascinated by Marlene's enthusiasm for the absurdly cute diricrawls. However, now all she wanted to do was immerse herself in a steaming bath and hope her aching muscles would stop screaming for awhile. Of course, as things usually work out, fate had another plan for our exhausted protagonist.

Lily dragged herself past the fireplace; not noticing the figure sprawled out on a couch before he called out her name. Letting out a yelp, she whirled around and came face to face with James Potter. Neither one knew what to say after today's drama; Lily had been banking on him ignoring her for the rest of their natural lives… She tried to pay no attention to him and go up to her dorm, but he got up and gently held her arm. She couldn't understand why he looked so unsure. They stared at each other for a long time, eventually; James cracked and blurted out "I'm sorry."

Lily stared at him. She hadn't known what was coming, but that was beyond unexpected. She had always believed Potter thought himself above apologizing. Today was not the first time she had seen him pick on other students and he had certainly never asked forgiveness for any of his former… transgressions. She was speechless.

"Look, Lily, I was an assho—I mean, a berk, down at the lake, I don't know what came over me. I'm really sorry for putting you in that position, and… well, I guess I'm just sorry…"

Okay, maybe not his most articulate moment, but he was new to this humility thing.

"Also," he continued, "I'm sorry about asking you out in front of everyone, I know that's not what you wanted, I had been hoping for a more… tactful moment." Oh Jesus, he was blushing. He wasn't supposed to blush. Ever.

--

What did he mean, more tactful, Lily thought? Hadn't asking her out served to humiliate her in front of everyone, as if James 'Arrogant' Potter would lower himself to dating Lily Evans, resident bookworm of Hogwarts? She remained quiet.

"Please Lily, we're all leaving for the summer in a couple days, can't we… you know, just forget about this, or something? Maybe we could, I don't know, write to each other, or something. Over the summer I mean. By owl." James was hoping the earth would swallow him; he hadn't stumbled over his words in ages, perhaps ever.

By owl… God James, he thought, she must think you're a goddamn Casanova with a line like that…

"Look, Potter--" Lily started.

"James," James interjected softly.

"Potter," Lily said, more adamantly, "I apologize for whatever I did that made you abhor me so much, but this prank is over. Finite. Ended. Done. Complete. Why don't you go back to your glittery world, shove your silver spoon back in your mouth, and let me get back to _my_ reality."

James stared at her. She really didn't get it. How could she not see that he was putting himself on the line here, for her! This wasn't a joke; he wasn't making fun of her. He wanted to get to know her!

Lily stared at his incredulous gaze; honestly, some people just took jokes to far. She didn't even know this guy, what did he have against her? They had been in the same school for five years, before today, he had barely glanced at her, let alone attempted friendship, and now he wanted to write to her?! Lily's anger was escalating.

"As scintillating as this insincere tosh is, I am going upstairs before my limbs fall off, so if you'll excuse me…" Lily tried to push past him. Obviously, her attempt was futile. He looked her in her eyes.

"Lily, what happened, you look rather… worn out," he said diplomatically.

"Hmphf! As if you even care…" She pushed past him. This time, he let her.

"I do…" He sighed, as he watched her walk away for the fourth time today.

--

Lily stormed (or attempted to, for she felt like her legs had fallen off long ago) up the girls' staircase. How dare he waltz into her life, expect her to fall madly in love with him, melt into a lovesick puddle on the floor, just in time for him to renounce his feelings and reject her publicly! Some people had a skewed sense of humour…

Drawing a bath, Lily tried to forget today's events (not to mention tomorrow's, she was not awaiting her Transfiguration exam with a sparkle in her eye and a spring in her step…). But she soon found out the hard way that forgetting about James Potter's striking chocolate brown eyes was easier said than done…

--

The few remaining days of the school year trickled by… Lily found herself ducking in and out of crannies, attempting to evade the quidditch heartthrob. This proved quite difficult for he always managed to locate her, almost as if he could track her whereabouts… Anyway, she started dragging Marlene everywhere she went in hopes of eluding her new prowler, which seemed to work adequately for she did not experience any more awkward reunions with said heartthrob for the rest of the school year. She offered a quick thank you to whatever omniscient being granted her this small victory as she boarded the Hogwarts Express.

She always experienced a severe case of nostalgia when she left for the summer because although she adored her mother and (had to) love her sister, Hogwarts was without a doubt where she belonged. She settled into her seat and prepared herself for what she hoped would be an uneventful to the point of boring train ride.

--

James let out an aggravated sigh as he attempted to block out the noise in his compartment and focus on his quidditch magazine. His friends were joking with some girls who just 'happened' to wander into their compartment. Emmeline kept trying to include him in the conversation but all he wanted to do was go and find out what compartment Lily was hiding herself in… No, he thought to himself, give her the summer, and then see what happens. Resolving himself to this course of action, he reconciled himself to a couple hours of inane conversation and exasperated looks shot between the jaded Marauders. Joyness.

--

It turned out James' summer plan was more manageable than he had first thought for Sirius was staying at his house this summer. As much as he loved his father, it did get boring sometimes, just the two of them alone in a sprawling house. Not to factor in his father's insane work schedule, usually resulting in James spending quality time with the house elves. Having someone like Sirius staying over meant constant action. The only time James allowed himself to think about Lily involved dreaming and other… bedtime activities (of course, he would never admit to anyone, most especially himself, that he was tempted to write to her a dozen times a day).

--

Lily, on the other side of the spectrum, had barely any distractions at all. She had finished her homework ages ago and now had far too much time on her hands. Her mother was always working nights at the hospital and sleeping during the day and Petunia was always busy with her friends. Their mother suggested Petunia invite Lily out with her so she could meet some new people but both teenagers knew this was asking for trouble… Yes, Lily was better off staying home. She had already read her next years' books twice before she got antsy. Only a little while longer before she returned to her home… and to James Potter. Not that she was thinking about him. Not at all.

Lily was wandering around her house one day, trying to decide if she wanted to read or go for a walk. She had just mailed another letter to Marlene, although she had precious little to report. Both girls were indolently awaiting their return to school.

Eventually, the day came that Lily had been looking forward to. Outfitted in a new uniform (her old one had become, err, a little to tight in certain… feminine areas), Lily pinned her gleaming prefect badge on her breast and boarded the train, giving her mother a sweet kiss on the cheek and her sister an awkward hug.

After returning from the prefects meeting, Lily found Marlene and they began talking as if they had been apart for only two minutes, rather than two months. The meeting had passed without any incidents, unless you count Remus Lupin sitting next to her and politely inquiring about her summer. While Lily found this rather disconcerting, she understood his motives for he had arrived to the meeting late and the only other seat left had been next Glinda Becknett, a sweet, but rather opinionated seventh year who was still rather miffed about being passed over for head girl. Anyway Lily attempted small talk with the popular sixth year but graciously declined his invitation to join his friends in their compartment. She prayed that his invite was simply out of good manners but she knew otherwise. Apparently Potter's joke was still in the works, and he had even cajoled his friend into helping. It looked like this year was going to be a bit more chaotic than Lily's first five…

--

Remus Lupin settled himself into his seat in his friends' compartment, seemingly oblivious to the looks his friend James was shooting him. Pulling out a book, he ignored the stare of expectation on Prongs' face.

"So, Moony, how was the meeti— "James started.

"She's fine, Prongs," Remus interjected, shooting his smitten friend a sly smile. "In fact," he continued, "she looks really … fit, and I think some of the other guys were noticing as well…" Although Remus was thought by many to be polite and courteous, he could tease and manipulate with the best of them.

James' eyes glared at him and made to stand up. "What do you mean by that! Why the hell were they looking at her like—"

Remus chuckled and said, "Relax! Jesus, I've never heard you get so defensive over some bird before, all I said was that she looked good!"

James settled down in his seat again, glowering at his friends' looks of amusement. They should know better than to tease him on the subject of something (or someone) he was passionate about…

Sirius clapped James on his back before steering the conversation to a more neutral topic, but all the while he was smiling at his friends possessiveness. James was a brother to him and he was happy to see he was maturing (in a perverse way, but maturing nonetheless). Before Evans had captivated him, he had screwed around with girls a lot; Sirius thought that Evans would be first-rate for his friend.

--

The train ride, the carriage ride, and the sorting passed without happenings. Lily had seen James enter the Great Hall but there seemed to be such an abnormal amount of first years practically wetting themselves that the two teenagers never came in direct contact. After a delicious supper, Lily told Marlene that she was going to go for a walk before it got to dark out. She slowly weaved her way through the crowd, but not escaping the notice of a certain handsome Gryffindor.

--

James excused himself (amidst some bawdy suggestions and catcalls from his immature friends who had definitely noticed where his notice lay). He wandered out on the grounds and immediately saw Lily down by the lake. Wow, the summer had definitely done her well. She had always been attractive, but now she was undeniably becoming a woman. She was still caught in that awkward in-between stage, but James could already see that she was to turn out to be a stunning individual. She had taken of her shoes and was wading in the shallows, observing the minnows swarming around her toes. Her hair was down (his favourite way she wore it), falling past her shoulders. Every now and then she would let out a squeal when a minnows would nibble on her toes. She was magnificent.

"Isn't the water cold?" James asked, telling himself mentally to calm down before he embarrassed himself.

"Agghh!" Lily shrieked, turning swiftly and effectively scaring the minnows away.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you… I was just walking and thought you might get cold in the water, or something… So, uh, how was your summer?" Way to go James, he mentally berated himself, no wonder she is madly in love with you, what with articulacy like that.

Lily stared at him like he was from a different planet. "Uhhh… It was busy, you know, so much stuff going on," Lily lied through her teeth.

James tried to shoot her a debonair smile, but was scared he looked more like a dazed clown than a suave Romeo. What was it about this girl? As soon as she looked at him, his practiced air of 'cool' went out the window and he started acting like a first grader with a crush on his teacher!

"Um, how was your summer?" Lily returned politely, only a slight quake in her voice.

"Oh, you know, busy too, like a bee…" Oh god. I did not just say that, James thought, wanting to throw himself in the lake at the mercy of the giant squid.

"Good, good… Well, you know, I am kinda cold, plus I have to meet Marlene to go over some… stuff. So I'll just be going. Now. Up to the castle." Lily stammered.

"Great! I'll walk you up and—" James started.

"No! I mean, no, I'm fine and look, Vance is coming down here, looks like she needs to talk to you, so I'll, uh, I'll see you later." With that stellar line, Lily grabbed her shoes and ran past James without a backward glance, offering Emmeline a small wave of recognition.

James turned around and watched Lily run away, her flight kind of summed up their whole relationship (or lack thereof), he thought wistfully. He sighed and prepared himself for Emmeline's upcoming talk. She had obviously followed him out here for a reason; he just wished he wouldn't have to find out. He plastered a smile on his face.

"Hi James! How was your summer? You look great!" Emmeline bubbled energetically, twirling a blond curl about her finger.

"It was fine, thank you, yours?" he returned politely.

"It was fantastic, lots of sunbathing on the French Riviera, you know, the usual, I went—"

"That's great Em, I've gotta run. I'll see you later, maybe." With a lame wave, he marched up to the castle, contemplating Lily. Why couldn't she pursue him like Emmeline did? It would make things so much easier… Sighing, he entered the common room and sat down with his friends. He saw Lily and Marlene laughing in the corner, praying it wasn't about his less-than- urbane moves down by the lake. Sighing, he promised himself this year would be different, better, filled with time spent with a quick-witted redhead. Yeah, this year was going to be great…

--

"Ow. Ow. Ow…" Lily muttered to herself, methodically banging her head on the mahogany library table. She had only been back in school for a week and a bit, yet she was already inundated with a pile of transfiguration homework that Houdini himself would yelp at. Rather than ask Marlene for assistance or (God help her)—McGonagall, she had closeted herself in the library in hopes of a sudden inspiration. She now regretted not asking her friend for help, damning her obstinacy, hence the head banging.

"You know," a smooth masculine voice came out of nowhere, "for such a smart girl, you sure do abuse your brain a lot."

Oh Lordy. She knew that voice. Slowly raising her head, her jade eyes connected with a dazzling pair of blue ones, Sirius Black. Well, that's just great. If she didn't know better, she would swear his charismatic smile was friendly, but that was ridiculous. He had overlooked her for over five years, if he was suddenly making nice with her, he had a motive, and she just wished she knew what his angle was. Glaring at him, his ever-present third of a freaking percent on her blazed through her mind.

"Don't you have an elsewhere to be? Or a cliff to jump off?" Lily muttered, glancing down at her textbook. Well done, she thought, I'll just antagonize the populars further. Why couldn't she just ignore them?

Sirius smiled at her cheek. Yep, definitely the lucky girl for Prongs. "You know," he began "It looks like you're having trouble with the homework. I happen to know a transfiguration prodigy with a soft spot for leggy redheads…" He added an eyebrow wiggle for effect.

Lily's eyes shot up. Did he just call her leggy? He was either blind, or a liar. Or both. She hoped he would just wander off and annoy someone else if she ignored him. No such luck. She prayed he wouldn't notice her blush.

Sirius stared at the quiet girl in front of him. It was really tragic how little stock Evans put in herself. If he had called any other girl leggy, she would have soaked up the attention; this one looked as if she wished the Furor librarian would boot him out. Just as he was about to shoot out a witty remark, he heard someone say his name behind him. The two teenagers turned and saw Remus Lupin leaning against a bookshelf. Standing up, he ambled over, a wry smile gracing his well-formed features.

"Hey Padfoot," he said, " I was sent to retrieve you for a game of Quidditch, but it seems you are busy with the lovely Ms. Evans. I could come back later…"

Sirius laughed at his friend, knowing a joke when he heard one. Lily, on the other hand, wanted to sink into the floor.

Sirius tossed his longish hair out of his eyes and proclaimed, "Yeah, you should probably leave, Lils and I were just about to ravish each other and I wouldn't want it to be awkward or anything for you."

Lily stared at the two. Before she could proclaim her profound disgust, another Marauder paraded into their group. God, it's was like they wore a tracking bell, or something.

James Potter had been waiting for his friends, but he had decided to see what was holding them up. Despite their stellar marks, they were not overly fond of the library. He was about to drag them out when he noticed Lily trying to sink into her chair, a cute blush staining her cheeks.

"Evans! Hi!" James said, a little too loudly. He coughed, and tried to lower his voice to a sexy drawl. "What are you doing with these berks when you could be spending quality time with me?"

The two non-smitten Marauders shared a look of amusement.

Lily spluttered "I wasn't _with_ them at all! Now if you'll excuse me…" She started gathering her books, wishing she didn't have so many to pick up.

Remus raised his hands to object to her leaving. "You don't have to go, Lily, you're already set up here. Sirius and I have to leave anyway, brilliant mischief to plan, tender maids to woo, you know the tune…"

Sirius interrupted, "But we were going to play Qui—"

"We'll just be off then, and leave James to help you with transfiguration." Shooting Sirius a look, Remus pulled his friend out of the library.

Lily and James stared at each other. They both started to speak at the same time, resulting in yet more awkwardness.

James took the initiative. "Yeah, Minnie's been piling on the home work lately, I just finished mine" (a lie, James had sped through his, but now wasn't the time for that), "I have some books on theory that really hel—"

"Actually, " Lily cut in, " I just finished, it's fine, really."

Lily mentally kicked herself. She may not like the boy, but he knew his transfiguration. A few minutes ago, she had been ready to ask the devil himself for help. Damn Potter's brown eyes and handsome face, he always addled her brains… Having no choice now but to collect her books, she started gathering her things.

James helped her pick up her things. She was obviously lying, but he knew her pride would not allow her to accept his help, just another thing he found entrancing about her. Staring at her, he was at a loss. He didn't want her to leave. Without thinking, he reached out and touched her arm. "Look, Lily, why don't we, I don't know, do something this afternoon? We could go to the kitchens, or play exploding snap, or something…" he trailed off.

Lily stared at his hand. Besides having a burning desire to know where the kitchens were, she had a very strong urge know him. When he looked at her like that, she could almost believe she was important to him, like she mattered. It was a nice feeling; she had never had a boyfriend before, or even a boy who was a friend, but she couldn't allow herself to be manipulated. He was James Potter. He was obviously up to something. Shaking her head out of the clouds, she looked him in the eye. Bad idea, he was looking at her like she _did_ matter. She didn't want another fight, like down at the lake. Fearing her voice would crack, she shook her head, and prepared to go.

James –with regret– let her.

--

"So, Evans," James Potter said, smiling down at a pretty redhead as if he was an actor in a toothpaste commercial, "I was thinking. You, me, two glasses of frosty butterbeer in a cozy booth in Madame Rosmerta's, confessing our undying lust for each other followed by a romantic broomride on my brand-new Comet 360."

Lily Evans closed her eyes tightly, telling herself not to blush and that this embarrassment was not really happening. James Potter was not really beside her in CofMC, ignoring his ashwinder, in favour of asking her out. Over the past couple days, the caring James Potter she had glimpsed in the library was gone; in his place was an arrogant chauvinist intent on her wooing. As if Lily didn't have enough to deal with, with her intense workload, she now had to fear being accosted at every corner by Hogwart's favourite pretty boy and Quidditch captain. And that's not to mention the glares she was starting to receive from her female counterparts. Far from being the congenial, if a tad forgettable redhead she was accustomed to, she was now a damn near celebrity: the only girl to turn down James Potter.

Nearing her breaking point, Lily was close to slapping the overconfident teenager; past caring what professor Grubbly-Plank would say. She whirled around, forgetting the danger of turning her back on an ashwinder, but before her hand made contact with Potter's face, she let out a scream of pain; the snake had bit her.

"Ms. Evans!" Grubbly-Plank yelled, " Well, now you've done it! You must go up to the hospital wing immediately! Potter, help Ms. Evans up to Madame. Pomfrey!"

"No! I'm fine, I can walk myself…" Lily gritted out, biting the inside of her mouth to stop from crying. She tried to hobble but before she knew what was happening, Potter's arms were supporting her and she was being led away from the group of students.

"Don't worry professor, Lils couldn't be in more capable hands!" James said, receiving chuckles from his friends and a glare from Lily.

Capitulating, Lily allowed herself to be led. The pain was beginning to outweigh her abhorrence of egotistical twerps.

After a number of failed attempts at conversation on James' part and a few groans of pain on Lily's, James decided that they were going to slow and he didn't want Lily to suffer any more than necessary. Making up his mind, he swung Lily up in his arms and picked up the pace.

Letting out a yelp, Lily protested. "Potter! Put me down! You're going to drop me, and when you do, that'll be TWO injuries you inflicted on me today!"

James shot her a penetrating look. "Evans, we both know this snakebite wasn't my fault, if you spent a little more time listening to instructions and a little less time staring at me, we wouldn't be in this… intimate situation…" James trailed off teasingly. If there was one thing James knew about Lily, it was how to anger her. Whenever she got angry, her cheeks would redden, her eyes would widen, her breathing would heighten… Dammit, James thought, don't think about that right now. But he couldn't help it, holding her tighter; he couldn't stop himself from smelling her hair. Nice…

Lily stopped squirming. Did he… just smell my hair, she thought? Giving him a weird look, she was glad they were almost at the hospital wing.

James put Lily down and opened the doors to the wing. They were no students in the beds, so he found Poppy in her office. Suddenly struck with inspiration, he limped in and pasted a look of pain on his face. Seeing Madame Pomfrey with her head on her desk, he let out a cough, she must not have heard him. Coughing a little louder, Madame Pomfery jerked awake, frantically glancing around.

"Just resting my eyes Albus…" She sputtered out. Noticing it was James who stood in the doorway to her office; she let out an aggravated sigh.

"Oh, it's you, Potter. What's the matter now? I'm surprised this is the first time I've seen you this semester. Let me guess, run in with the Willow? Twisted an ankle zooming down the banisters again?" Although Madame Pomfrey's tone was stern, James saw a teasing gleam in her eye.

"Sorry Poppy, I wish it was that simple, alas, I fear that Ms. Evans and myself have been bitten by an ashwinder, professor Grubbly-Plank said we needed to be kept in the hospital wing overnight, for observation and stuff, you can't be too careful, you know." James tried to look innocent.

"Potter! Why didn't you tell me Ms. Evans was injured?" Running out of her office, Poppy started fussing over Lily.

"Now, dear, you just lie on this bunk and stay still. Potter, you get into the bed next to Ms.Evans while I get some antidote potion." Madame Pomfrey said, all in one breath.

"But Madame Pomfrey, Potter's not sic—" Lily said with a pained voice.

"Yes Poppy," James interrupted, "I'll just rest here, and hope the pain goes away. Ughhhh…" James moaned for effect.

Lily shot him a look. "Madame Pomfrey, "she started, "Potter wasn't—"

"Hush child," Madame Pomfrey intermitted, " Don't speak, and lie still."

Lily shot James an incredulous look, only to be greeted by James annoyingly sexy smirk.

Madame Pomfrey interrupted the silent argument by telling them that although ashwinder bites were not dangerous if they were treated early, the two would indeed have to remain in the hospital overnight. Giving the two teenagers some antidote (that James spit out like a pro after she left) Madame Pomfrey told them that she would be back later to check on their progress.

Lily, already feeling an improvement, decided to ignore James.

James, feeling the exact same as five minutes ago, decided to engage his favourite girl in conversation. "So, Evans," he began, adopting a lower, more mature voice, "If I didn't know better, I would swear you planned this to keep my exquisite self by your bedside all night."

Lily's resistance proved to be non-existent. "Yeah, that's it Potter," she began, " I purposefully pissed of a snake, injured myself, and somehow magically manipulated you into faking an illness so I could enjoy a few hours of your sparkling company." She threw in a glare to add effect and hide her blush.

"Well, Evans, I didn't realize your feelings ran so deep. You should have told me before and I would have tried to get your attention using more subtle moves. Oh well, at least now we will have all night to explore your deep feelings for me. Yep, Allllllllll niiiiiiiiiiiiiight… Alooooooooooone… With meeeeeeeeeeeeeee." James drew his last words out, for effect.

Dammit, Lily swore to herself. She sunk into her pillows and prepared for what could very well be the most embarrassing (and hormonal) night of her life.

--

_Thunk._

_Thunk._

_Thunk._

James Potter shot a glance at the eye-catching ginger in the hospital bed next to him. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her mouth was in a tight line, his constant _thunking_ of the chair next to him was annoying her, just as he knew it would. For the past hour, she had been disregarding his congenial attempts at flirtation; it had been obvious to him that drastic measures had to be taken, hence his simple, yet brilliantly devious tactic.

_Thunk._

_Thunk._

_THUNK!_

_THUNK!_

Lily cracked.

"WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP, YOU INSANELY ANNOYING TWEEKO!" Lily screamed, and threw a pillow at him (missing, of course, she had never been overly well hand-eye co-ordinated.)

"Miss Evans!" Madame Pomfrey stuck her head out of her office, "Will you please calm down! Mr. Potter is trying to recover!" Shooting Lily a sharp look, she retreated back to her office.

"Honestly, Lily," James said, fake pain lacing his voice, "Have you no shame?"

Lily would have deemed him worthy of an Oscar, if he hadn't thrown in a cheeky wink after his line.

She tried to take no notice of him, but he was staring at her as if they had been mid-conversation before she had so rudely (scoff!) yelled at him. Her attempt failed, for not only was James Potter difficult to miss, she was now without a pillow. James, noticing her plight, threw a glance at the nurse's office and stealthily retrieved Lily's lost cushion. Walking over to her bed, he held it out to her, but when she rose to reach for it, he craftily bent behind her and placed at the head of her bed, fluffing it as naturally as if he had been a maid in a prior life. Giving her a cute hair-ruffle, he climbed back into his bed. She decided to be the bigger person and thank him.

"No problem, Lily," he said, "Anything for my favourite girl."

She let out an aggravated groan and met his eye. "Why do you keep saying that?" She spit out, "You don't even know me!"

James smiled at her sweetly, unlike his usual magnetic smirk. "Well, Lily, if I know so little about you, why don't we change that? We have all nigh—" James' speech was cut off as three teenage boys bounded in to the hospital.

Great, Lily thought, the rest of the Marauders, that's all I need, and I can't even run away from them.

She sighed, and sunk lower in her bed.

The three boys stood beaming at the two teenagers, not saying anything. It was actually kind of creepy… Peter finally spoke up.

"Well, Prongs, we just heard about your —ahem—injury, and we decided to rush up here and make sure you were still alive."

"Yeah," Remus joined, " It was all so sudden. Why, we didn't even see the wound! Can you imagine…" he trailed off, a fake look of concern on his face, betrayed by a teasing sparkle in his eye.

"I know," James grated out, an intense look of pain marring his handsome face, "Next time, I'll try to be more careful. Luckily, I won't get lonely tonight. Evans and I are confined to our beds until tomorrow, I'm sure we will find some way to entertain ourselves."

The boys laughed. Lily glared.

"Well," Sirius said, picking up on James' desire to be alone with Lily. "We didn't mean to interrupt such an intimate tête-à-tête, so we will be off, get better soon, Prongs. You as well Lily, don't tire our poor, injured friend out with any of your madcap antics." The three boys exchanged waves while Lily contemplated throwing her pillow again; finally deciding it wasn't worth it.

"Anyways, Evans," James said, "Where were we before my caring friends came to inquire after my waning health? Oh, yes, we were getting to know each other."

"Right, Potter," Lily said, "As if I would waste any breath conversing with a cretin like you." Adding a disdaining sniff for effect, Lily stared straight ahead, anything to avoid Potter's striking figure.

"You know Lily, I do know more about you than you think. For one, I know you want to have the last word in this argument."

Shooting him an annoyed glare, she said with as much maturity as she could muster, "No I don't."

"Liar," James whispered, under his breath, a teasing tone lacing his barb.

"Idiot," Lily rejoined.

"Beautiful, but a liar nonetheless," he added, almost more to himself than to Lily.

Looking at him as if he was insane, Lily spoke up. "Now who's the liar? Berk."

James stared at her. As much as Lily wanted to seem tough and unaffected, he could see how vulnerable she really was. She was not a vain girl fishing for compliments. She was a truly insecure young woman who couldn't see what James (and many unmentioned others, he thought, jealousy pricking him) found so entrancing about her. James, apart from (perhaps selfishly so) wanting to be around her, also wanted to show her the funny, gorgeous, smart and many other flattering attributes girl she really was. But now was not the time. She would barely talk to him about ordinary likes and dislikes, let alone bare her soul to him. Deciding to keep their conversation light, he thought of some questions to ask her.

"Anyways, back to the getting to know each other topic. Let's see… What's your favourite book?" Seeing a spark of interest in her eyes, James knew this was a excellent choice of subject.

Despite her pleasurable surprise at James' astute choice of question, she was not about to capitulate so easily. "Hmpf, as if you care."

"What, Lily, scared to answer? Or do you just not read?" Bull's-eye, James thought as Lily's eyes lit up in rage.

"I do so read, you ignorant bore! I just wouldn't expect you to know any of the book's I like." God, Lily thought, that sounds harsh.

But instead of being insulted, Potter just smiled and said, "Try me."

Not wanting to be accused of fear again, and more than a little interested in the topic, she decided to co-operate. Hell, it wasn't as if she had anyone else to talk to and she was vindictively hoping to stump him.

"Fine," she said, " Well, I like _Fifth Business, _but my all-time favourite book is _Jane Eyre_." Lily shot him a look, spitefully waiting for him to draw a blank. He didn't.

"Hmmm… Well, Robertson Davies is a brilliant writer. I loved the ending with Boy and the stone. As for _Jane Eyre_, I was never a fan of gothic novels but I will admit that Rochester's gypsy scene is beyond genius," James rejoined, a knowing twinkle in his eye.

Lily gulped, ashamed at her malice. Fuck, she had harped about him knowing nothing about her yet she had condemned him for lack of knowledge without any substantiation.

"Oh, right," she stumbled, "That's, uh, yeah." Stop blushing, dammit, she yelled at herself.

Seeing Lily wasn't going to ask him his favourite book, he decided to tell her himself. "I was always a fan of the Russians, give me _The Idiot _over Bronte any day of the week."

Lily stared at him. _The Idiot _was on her list to read. This boy was full of surprises.

"Wow," she began, "I've heard amazing things about that book, I bought it last July, I haven't gotten around to reading it yet."

He smiled. Score one for James.

Lily returned his smile. Maybe the next —she glanced at her watch— 20 hours wouldn't be such a hell after all…

--

Lily was not sure how to approach this… intimate situation. Although the two teenagers had some common ground now, she was still nervous around the captivating boy. She was a recluse by nature, only really allowing Marlene to get close with her. Speaking of Marlene, Lily thought, classes are out shortly; perhaps she will come up soon…

James stared at Lily; her face was kind of scrunched up, like she was having a conversation with herself, it was really cute. He noticed a slight change in her attitude toward him. Though she was by no means warm towards him, he did notice a slight thawing in her personality. This encouraged him and he offered a quick thanks heavenward for his quick thinking and pseudo-illness. Just as he was about to attempt conversation again, he heard the noise of the door opening. A flushed 16-year-old girl sprinted in and threw herself on Lily's bed. Marlene was out of class.

"Are you alright?!" Marlene said, placing her hand on Lily's forehead (futile, but sweet nonetheless). "I was so worried! I know you don't like snakes, but they're not supposed to be in captivity! It wasn't its fault! You're fine now, and I think—"

Lily cut her off.

"Mar, don't worry about it! I'm fine and I harbour no resentment and/or grudge against said snake." Lily smiled at her caring friend. She knew Marlene had a soft spot for animals pulled out of their natural habitat.

"Oh, yeah, I knew you wouldn't be mad. Well, if it makes you feel better, you missed a brutal pop quiz in Astronomy, I think I—"

Again, Lily interrupted.

"Dammit! I didn't even think about my other classes! Bleeding hell, how am I going to catch up?" Lily groaned, sinking into her pillow.

"Relax, supergirl, I brought you your homework, and Sinistra said she will make up another quiz for you and Potter. Don't worry you're glossy little head, you're way ahead of the class anyway." Marlene said, and handed her a packet of notes, paper, and textbooks.

"Thanks Mar, I owe you. Anyway, did I miss anything interesting?" Lily asked.

"No," Marlene answered, "Things are pretty quiet, what with your crazy counterpart being hospitalized as well." Marlene gestured towards Potter who had been listening and smiling along with their conversation, as though he was included.

"Quiet, you," Lily said, blushing, "He's not my counterpart."

"Come, now, Lils," James interjected, "Denial is not healthy for a girl your age." Directing his gaze at the amused brunette and gesturing to Lily, he said, " Ours is a forbidden love."

The two exchanged amused stares while Lily growled, "Ughh! You two are as bad as each other!"

"Thank you," the two said together, and then laughed at the unplanned joke. They recognized an ally when they saw one; Mar wanting Lily to be happy and James wanting the same thing. James liked the way Marlene treated him like a regular guy, rather than some sort of deified Adonis. He also liked the way Lily's face genuinely lit up when she and Marlene were together.

"Anyways," Marlene said, "I came up here to see if I could bring you anything from dinner, I wouldn't want you to starve on Jell-O and ice-cream."

Lily smiled at her friend's thoughtfulness. "Yeah, I'd love whatever you bring, just no—"

"Carrots or fish" Marlene finished for her, an amused twinkle in her eye, "Yeah, yeah, I know. Anything for you, Potter?"

James grinned at their easy camaraderie. "Hmmm… I'd love some pie and as many éclairs as you can carry." The girls stared at him. "What? I'm a growing boy!"

Rolling her eyes, Marlene got up and said she'd be back later, bearing food.

After she left, James said, "She seems like a nice girl. You guys look as if you're really close."

Lily smiled at him (his heart sped up). "Yeah," she said, "Mar is fantastic." Realizing she shouldn't be so open around him, she stopped smiling and stared at her sheets. No use opening up to a guy who would forget about her in a couple days.

James noticed her instant withdrawal. Wanting to counteract whatever was going through her head, he started talking about his own friends. He told her about the many crazy pranks and mischief they had committed and before she could help herself, she was practically crying from laughing so hard.

Marlene came in with bearing food, but seeing how much fun the two were having, she quickly left, citing vast amounts of homework, but her excuse was betrayed by a devious smile on her pretty face. Thoughtfully, she had brought Lily a pair of pyjamas and a change of clothes for tomorrow. After she left, the two teenagers continued chatting until Lily noticed that it was getting late. Tomorrow was Saturday but she still wanted to get some sleep (not to mention escape the warm and fuzzy feelings she kept getting whenever James would smile at her).

Now she was faced with a problem. She couldn't get up, but she had to change into her pjs. James noticed her predicament and smiled at her, daring her. After hearing all about his bold exploits, she was absurdly filled with the want to prove her own audaciousness. Throwing self-consciousness to the wind, she wriggled out of her school uniform under the covers (boldly flashing a little skin).

Although James' face didn't show it, he was more than a little affected by Lily's performance. He was convinced that she had no idea how provocative she was being (he was dead wrong). Hoping to gain the upper hand in the situation, he also prepared himself for bed. Pulling of his tie, he unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it to the side. Doing the same with his pants, he was left with only his boxers and a smile on.

Lily instantly regretted her impetuousness. She had thought to shock him with her daring but instead she was the one covered with blushes. She tried not to look at his chest while simultaneously telling herself not to redden (without success).

James noticed her embarrassment and revelled in it. He was used to girls looking at him but Lily's stare was different… Stretching his arms above his head (making Lily's eyes widen), he settled down for what he thought would be an enjoyable night.

--

Lily gulped at the sight of James' toned muscles being stretched as he lifted his arms above his head. Having never had a boyfriend, or really, even a boy who was a friend, she was uncomfortable around boys at the best of times, let alone when a _Playgirl _centrefold-worthy one was practically naked, lying prone beside her.

Lily was at an impasse; she had started something of a dare war, seeing who would go farther. James had met her bet, and raised the stakes. She was unsure of what she should do. Well, that's a lie. She knew she should ignore the situation, close her eyes, and go to sleep, but she was torn over what she _wanted _to do. She had reflected over her life while James had been regaling her with some of his numerous exploits and she had realized there was something missing: a certain spontaneity that so many of her peers thrived on. She had always thought herself content to be alone with her books and Marlene, and she was. Content, that is. Nevertheless, she felt as though she was lacking a joie-de-vie, an impulsiveness.

Although she knew she would reprimand her impetuousness later, she quickly thought up a plan to knock this pretty boy of his high pedestal. For once, she let go of her reserve and allow herself to be a regular teenager. For once, she would gain the upper hand on James Potter.

--

Even though James' face was plastered with a confidant smile, inside, he was shaking. His dream girl was in the bed next to him wearing nothing but an oversized T-shirt. Although James had had probably seen more sexy lingerie than any 16-year-old boy had the right to, Lily's present innocent dishevelment was putting the other girls' nightwear to shame. She seemed unaware of her impact on the handsome young man as she ran her fingers through her hair. She looked as though she was contemplating something when a look of satisfaction crossed her features.

James idly wondered what she was thinking as she leaned forward to place her folded clothes next to her bed. As she bent forward, her sheet slipped down, revealing her creamy leg. James sent a quick prayer upstairs, thanking whatever divine being had crafted the curvy redhead in front of him. He soaked up her dishevelment, believing she would fix the wayward coverlet. Instead, to his surprise and, … excitement, she did not. In fact, she seemed unaware that her smooth limb was even on display.

His breathing hitched as she moved the over-blanket aside, seemingly to scratch an itch, (unbeknownst to James, Lily was actually trying to see how far she could push him.)

--

Lily felt as though her insides were all on fire. She had never felt beautiful, nor had she ever felt power over someone of the opposite sex, now, James' reaction to her changed all that. Pushing all remaining feelings of self-consciousness to the side, she stole a look at James. His eyes were wide, transfixed on her legs. Still quite innocent to all of these new feelings, Lily didn't grasp her full impact until she noticed a change in the topography of James' sheets, a large bulge visible, even from her angle. Lily's eyes widened. Was he? Oh God! He was! Embarrassment flooded her senses, pushing any further thoughts of toying with the quidditch captain out of her mind.

Mumbling something akin to goodnight, she burrowed her face into her pillow and shut her eyes, telling herself she imagined 'it' and to go to sleep.

--

Jesus, get a hold of yourself, James swore inwardly. Swallowing, he tried to control his reaction (to no avail). Before he could get a grip, Lily hurriedly said goodnight and rolled over. Oh, well, he thought, at least she wasn't looking at me, she didn't notice. Repeating that mantra to himself, he tried not to look at her back. Dammit, he thought, there's no way I'm getting to sleep with such a shapely derriere facing me…

God, she's beautiful, he thought. She's not looking, maybe I could just… take care of my 'problem'.

--

Lily sighed. Just go to sleep, she said to herself, the faster you go to sleep, the faster tomorrow comes, and freedom along with it. With that encouraging thought, she tried to relax, and after many attempts, finally managed a fitful sleep.

--

James heard Lily breathing evenly. Letting out a breath he hadn't been aware he had been holding, he willed his… nether area to calm down. Every time he almost succeeded (calling on as many sickening images as he could think of), he would open his eyes and catch a glimpse of Lily's exposed legs and his 'problem' would reappear, more insistent than ever.

Believing he had no other choice other than continuing this torture (and torture, no matter how blissful, it was), he glanced at Lily to make sure she was still asleep. Oh, God, she had turned in her sleep and he could now see her round breasts being pushed up by her arm. She let out a little sleep moan and he was lost, totally and completely.

It was like he was possessed; he knew he was being stupid but the sight of sleeping Lily was addling his brain. Reaching down, he started taking care of his 'problem'. Envisioning Lily in an equally undressed but much more promiscuous position (namely on top of him), he soon found himself close to finishing. He marvelled at the impact Lily had on him. Under normal circumstances, he took ages to draw to a close but she made him feel like he was some spotty third year heavy petting for the first time behind the greenhouses. Softly murmuring her name when he came, he slouched down in his sheets and revelled in his post-orgasmic state. Heaven.

--

Lily was sleeping restlessly when she heard her name being called. Thinking herself in a dream, she sat up.

"Whassit?" She murmured, glancing at James.

Hearing her voice, James practically jumped out of his skin.

"What! Uh, nothing! Nothing! Go back to sleep!" He yelped, turning red.

Lily sent him a questioning glace. She saw him wipe of his hand on his sheet and turn over. Still being in a sleepy state, she shrugged her shoulders and fell back on her pillow, immediately going back into her dream.

--

James was bright red in the single bed beside Lily. Still berating himself for being stupid enough to moan her name when he came, he turned over and tried to get to sleep. A useless attempt, for as he was trying to even his breathing, Lily let out a moan in her sleep and he felt another flare of life in his nether regions… Great, just great… It was going to be a long night.

--


	3. Chapter 3

_I own nothing from Harry Potter_

_--_

_Lily let out a low moan as James started sucking a sensitive spot on her neck. They were on his bed in his dorm. After Lily had returned from a boring prefect's meeting, James had swooped her up in his arms and carried her upstairs._

_James broke off his attention and rapidly unbuttoned her shirt. Bleeding hell, he thought, she's amazing…_

_Giving James a coy look, Lily pushed against him so he would roll over. His eyes widened as she climbed up on him. She perched on top of James, staring at him. He grew more eager to taste her as the seconds ticked by (or was it minutes? He had no idea; the sight of a barely clothed Lily was addling his brain)._

_He ran his hands up her smooth legs and prepared to reassume the dominant position, but she stopped him._

"_Nah-ah-ahhh, Jamie," she purred, " I'm in control, you have to do what I say," she whispered in his ear, a teasing tone sending shivers down his spine and his, err… other places._

_Although the idea of such a petite teenager dominating such a tall, muscled quidditch player was in theory laughable, James knew that this gorgeous siren really did hold great power over him, he would do anything for her. Letting out an aggravated sigh (although he was anything but) he sent her a sceptical look._

"_Do. Your. Worst." He said silkily. _

"_Oh, I will…" She returned, a seductive smile curving her full lips._

_Throwing him an audacious wink, she slowly started rocking her hips against his erection. _

_He let out a hiss of pleasure and slid his hands up her smooth legs, slowly coming to rest on the curve of her ass._

_She played with the collar of her shirt, leisurely taking it off. Tossing to the side of his bed with a flick of her wrist, she ran her hands down her exposed body, letting out a moan of pleasure to tease him. She toyed with her skirt, undoing the zipper but leaving it on. Laughing softly, she bent forward and kissed James softly. Distracting him with her skilled lips and rocking thighs, she undid the button and zipper on his jeans that were so annoyingly keeping her away from her destination. _

_He hadn't even noticed her undoing his pants until he felt cool air on his erection. Letting out a yelp as Lily softly started stroking him, his body went rigid from the bliss._

_Lily gazed at the look of rapture on James' face. Wanting to make him feel even more wonderful, she climbed down slowly and bent her mouth closer, closer, closer… _

_James could see Lily's mouth open, ready to take him. So close… Oh, fuck, he thought, _

"_Tease…" he whispered._

"_I know," she answered._

_Lily leaned forward, her hot breaths caressing James' hard-on. So close, so close. So. Fucking. Close…_

_--_

James shot up, panting, sweating… What the fuck! James looked down and saw that he was once again rock hard. Fuck, it was just a dream…

James glanced over at Lily; she was sleeping soundly. Letting out an exasperated groan, he rolled over. It was still dark in the hospital wing so it wasn't too early. James squeezed his eyes shut and tried to clam himself down. No dice.

--

Lily let out a moan of disproval as Madame Pomfrey briskly opened the curtains the following morning. As Lily slowly came out of her slumber, she was confused at her bizarre surroundings: white walls, a small cot, and (ohmygod) James Potter lying in the bed beside her. She sat bolt upright as the memories of yesterday came flooding back.

She remembered the snakebite, Potter's 'illness', Marlene stopping by, and above all, her quickly mounting feelings for the boy snoring softly beside her. She glanced over and took in his appearance. His hair (messy at the best of times) was thrown about his head as if he had survived a tornado rather than a night of slumber. His sheet had slipped and Lily's eyes were stuck on his chiselled chest (no guy had the right to look that good, she thought to herself as she recollected the amount of éclairs he had ingested yesterday).

As if he could feel her gaze on him, his eyes opened. He smiled at her tousled hair and her still sleepy eyes. Still feeling as if he was in a dream, he yawned and stretched his arms.

"G'morning, Lily," he said, his voice slightly gruff.

"Umm, good morning. I –uh—think we can leave now." Lily sleepily rambled, glancing at Madame Pomfrey as the nurse attended to her morning duties. Noticing they were awake, Madame Pomfrey rushed over.

"Good morning dears, I hope you slept well." Not giving them time to answer, she quickly told them that the antidote would soon be out of their systems and that they were free to go. Promptly saying goodbye (and telling Potter not to get into too much trouble), she hurried into her office and on to the rest of her morning agenda.

The two teenagers stared at each other. Both starting to talk at the same time, they broke into simultaneous laughter. Lily started again.

"So, I'll… see you later, I suppose."

James stared at her. No way was she leaving that easily..

"Come on, Lily, you've gotta be hungry, let's go to breakfast. Actually, it's almost time for lunch." James pasted his most friendly smile on his face, hoping more than he'd like to say that Lily would accept his offer.

"Umm… Well, I don't, uh." Lily looked at his expression and she remembered last night how she had wished she would take more chances. Spontaneously deciding against her previous unvoiced objection, she offered a shy nod of approval. James' smile intensified (if possible) and he quickly pulled on his clothes.

Lily speedily pulled on a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt Mar had brought for her. She smiled at her friend's choice; Marlene had bought Lily this top for her last birthday but Lily seldom wore it, thinking it was a little too tight, especially around her bustline (Mar insisted that that was how it was supposed to look). Feeling a boost of confidence from her friend's implied insinuation, she folded her clothes and turned to James.

James let out a breath. Jesus, he thought, she looks hot (which was saying something for he always found her beautiful). He had never seen her in anything so tight. The stretched lycra moulded around the contours of her breasts, emphasizing her high, pert chest.

"You look, err, nice, I mean, that's a nice colour on them. I mean! On you! That's a nice colour on you." James spluttered out, turning red. Fucking hell.

Lily sent him an odd look. Why was he acting so funny, she thought. Shrugging it off, she picked up her things and went to thank Madame Pomfrey for her aid.

James stared at Lily as she walked over to him after thanking the nurse. She is so polite and considerate, he thought. She's so different from the other girls I know, oh, she's coming back, don't look at her chest, for godsake, she'll think you're a fucking lecher!

Shaking himself from his stupor, he offered Lily his arm. She cautiously took it and they made their way to the Great Hall. James was trying to make witty smalltalk whilst not, NOT, staring at her… form and Lily was worriedly wondering what certain judgemental students would think when they saw James Potter, the admired Marauder, waltz into the room with Lily Evans, the bookish academic. Pasting an amiable smile on her face, Lily took a deep breath as James opened the door to the Great Hall…

--

Lily looked down at her watch, fiddled with her necklace, and smoothed back her hair. Anything to keep from looking around at her fellow classmates. Although she refused to glance up, she gathered from the silence hanging in the air that they all had similar looks on their faces: surprise, with a hint of shock.

Lily prayed that she wouldn't trip on the tumbleweed she was sure was going to roll by and quickly disentangled her arm from James'. She chose a seat next to Marlene at the end of the Gryffindor table.

--

James let out a sigh. Shooting a glare at the taken aback students and a salutation smile at his Marauder friends, he walked over to Lily's end of the table and took a seat next to her. Reaching across the table to grab the pitcher of pumpkin juice, he acknowledged Marlene with an amiable smile and a wave.

--

Marlene glanced at the two. There was definitely something different about how they were acting. More than just the new civility between them, there seemed to be a fresh undercurrent between the two teenagers. She opened her mouth to ask how their night had been when she felt someone plonk down on either side of her.

The other ¾ of the Marauders had come.

"James," Remus stated with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, "Are you sure you should be out of bed? After being so ill, I think you shouldn't test your limits." The group laughed.

"Yeah," Peter joined, " I think you're looking a little peaky. Lily, I hope you didn't keep our ashen friend awake last night with your crazy antics."

Lily blushed and decided to ignore them, although her lips were twitching from suppressed laughter.

Marlene decided to try to ease her friend's embarrassment. "Leave her alone, you tweekos are the ones who annoy everyone with your crazy antics!" Shite, she thought, a little too far maybe…

"Ah! So she can speak!" Sirius Black piped up. "In fact, I dare say you, dear Marlene, are practically bearing your claws. Kinda sexy, if you ask me." He winked at her and wiggled his eyebrows.

Marlene reddened. "Well, I didn't ask you!"

Rather than being annoyed with Marlene's curtness, the blue-eyed Marauder grinned at her impetuousness. He opened his mouth to throw out a rejoinder, but was cut off by another person joining their seating arrangement.

"James!" Emmeline proclaimed, sitting down next to Potter, a charming smile on her face. " I heard you were in the hospital, I hope you're feeling better!"

"Uh, yeah, Emmeline, I'm fine thanks." James said, less than engaged.

The Marauders all gave him amused smirks; his exasperation with the shapely blonde was not unknown to his friends, in fact, it was shared.

Lily noticed the exchange of smirks. She wondered why they disliked Emmeline. Granted, Lily and she were not close, but after sharing a dorm for going on six years, she had never had a direct problem with her (other than the fact that every time Emmeline bought yet another tube of lipstick or a new robe, it was all Lily heard about at night for ages).

. Lily saw that the attention of her lunch companions was sidetracked, so she gave Marlene a look that signalled they should make a quick exit.

Marlene gathered some fruit and a bun and prepared to leave, but Sirius noticed the girls' plan. He yawned and placed his arm around Marlene's shoulders, effectively securing her to his side. Marlene turned to him, eyes wide, and quickly turned back around, shooting Lily a caught-in-the-headlights look.

Lily, not about to abandon her friend, decided against her escape plan. Shooting an annoyed look at Black and a sympathizing one at Marlene (who looked like she was prepared to chew Black's arm off rather than suffer the glares from all the girls within sight). Lily loaded her plate up and desperately tried to think of a sufficient excuse for her and her friend to leave.

Remus, noticing the entire exchange, smiled at the girls. "So," he asked, "what do you girls plan on doing in Hogsmeade today?"

Lily had forgotten that today was a Hogsmeade day. She and Marlene enjoyed some of the stores there, but they usually only went when they had specific things to buy.

Marlene still seemed to be frozen in place, so Lily decided to field this one. "Oh, I'm not going, Marlene and I are—err—going for a walk in the Forest today."

Marlene frantically bobbed her head.

"Really?," Remus asked, "That sounds like fun. Why don't we join you? Hogsmeade kind of lost its novelty years ago."

"Um, No! I mean, I don't think so," Marlene said, finally finding her voice. "Its kind of dangerous. I mean, not that you can't handle it, but well, I… if you haven't been there, then it can be kind of creepy."

The Marauders smiled at each other. They knew that no matter how avid a fan Marlene was of the Forest, it was highly unlikely that she had been there nearly as many times as they had.

Before they could object to her opposition, Emmeline exclaimed, "Actually, I was wondering if James was busy. I'm going to that new robes shop and I wanted a _man's_ opinion…" She batted her mascara-laden eyelashes at him. He gagged inwardly.

James began, "I'd rather—", but was suddenly interrupted by Professor McGonagall's distinct screech.

"BOYS! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! In my office this instant!"

James stared puzzlingly at his favourite teacher. Not that he wasn't used to her yelling at him, he just usually knew what it was for. Looking at his friends and seeing their amused smirks, he wondered what they had pulled last night, must have been good to make Minnie turn that shade of burgundy.

The boys sighed, got up and practically bounced to their transfiguration office. Although she was tough on the outside, they knew she found them entertaining in the extreme.

James was thankful to escape Emmeline's predatory stare but was less than thrilled to leave Lily's side. He winked at her and said, "Sorry, luv, duty calls." He joined his friend's and they regaled him with their exploits from the previous night.

Emmeline was looking at Lily very strangely, as if she was an exhibit in a museum. Letting out a forced laugh, Lily gave her a friendly smile. Returning it rather weakly, Emmeline waved goodbye to the two girls and walked off, her blond curls bouncing with every step.

The two remaining girls shot each other a bemused look and together let out a breath they hadn't known they had been holding.

"So, were you serious about another walk in the forest?" Marlene asked, a hopeful glint in her eye.

Lily, unable to deny her best friend anything, replied, "Yeah, why not? Besides, we have lots of things to discuss! But I'll have to change my clothes, don't want to ruin my shirt."

Marlene smiled at her friend. Wow, she thought, Lily seems a lot more confidant, what the hell could have happened in only twelve hours? Eager to find out the answer to her question, she nodded.

Yep, they definitely had a lot to discuss…

--

"So," McGonagall enunciated slowly, her sharp eyes roaming the faces of the four boys in front of her, all displaying similar looks of innocence and incredulity.

"So… Do any of you Gryffindors have any idea how long it took Mr. Filch to right the problem you delinquents caused last night?"

No one's face cracked.

"Alright," the transfiguration teacher continued, "I'll tell you. 16 hours. 16 hours to undo the mayhem you four caused. SIXTEEN Hours to remove the cement from EVERY SINGLE KEYHOLE IN THE SCHOOL! WELL! Don't you four have anything to say about that?"

The boys smirked on the inside.

"Minerva, really," James started, "I was in the hospital wing all last night, fighting for my very life! Ask Madame Pomfrey! My health was waning! My eyes were dimming! My skin was paleing! And my friends, the dears that they are, came to visit my bedside, should my vigour cease to be and my life form to snuff out!" By the end of James' speech, he had jumped out of his seat, put his arm on his brow, and delivered a monologue worthy of any Shakespearean thespian.

Minnie's lip twitched.

"Be that as it may, Mister Potter, I do believe this prank reeks of your, shall we say, flair? I am aware of your… near death experience last night, however, I do see a certain Potter-esque influence on said prank. Anything you would like to say? Or perhaps confess to?"

James flashed her a winning smile. The prank had actually been his idea, but he hadn't known his friends were going to pull it when he had been in the hospital wing with Lily last night. Ah, Lily, if he hurried, he could probably catch up with her and Marlene in the forest. James' heart quickened at the thought of Marlene being distracted by some creature or another and the task of entertaining Lily for hours resting on his shoulders. Bliss.

"Well, Professor, seeing as I have an airtight alibi for last night, I think I shall bid you good day and let you handle this mess of miscreants." With an overly jaunty wave, he began walking of, whistling a cheerful tune.

"Nah-ah-ahhh Mister Potter, forgive me for doubting you, however, I fear I must object. Merlin only knows what kind of mischief you have planned to wreak whilst I am distracted with your 'miscreant' friends," McGonagall responded.

Remus, being the intellect that he was, knew exactly why James wanted to ditch his friends, the reason personified itself in a short, curvy redhead with a wit to match his own. Remus had always been a supporter of James' clandestine fascination with Evans for she was not only a wonderful person, but Remus had long ago tired of the inane conversations he was subjected to when James introduced his new flavour of the week to his friends.

Last night, Remus and another 2/4 of the Marauders had decided to take matters into their own hands, and what better way to start than by securing some quality time between James and Lily in the Forest? Assuming a look of pained innocence, Remus declared, "Minnie, James does not deserve to be punished for a transgression he played no part in, would you really want to debase our fine academic system by reprimanding an innocent who was just released from hospitalized care?"

He added puppy dog eyes for effect. The mirrored looks of innocence on his fellow Marauders told Remus that he was not the only one who knew where Prong's interest lay.

McGonagall sighed in exasperation at the four boys. There was nothing she could do. "Fine, boys," she said, "I was going to divide the sixteen hours of Mr. Filch's time you wasted by four, but now I suppose it shall be by three. That's 5.3 hours for each of you, I sincerely hope it teaches you a lesson, but I dare say not even a fully grown mountain troll could knock any sense into your over-inflated heads." Although her words were harsh, it was obvious in her tone that she held a soft spot for the troublemakers.

The boys smiled. They could do five hours of detention in their sleep.

James made to leave, throwing his friends a salute, in return he received many a wiggled eyebrow and innuendo.

Laughing to himself, he ran up to his dormitory to fetch his coat. Asking a younger girl if she had seen either Lily or Marlene leave, he found out they had left 20 minutes ago. Leaving the young girl behind with an adoring look in her eyes, he jogged off. He was certain he would be able to find the pair in no time. In fact, he even took time to make a side trip to the kitchens to pick up a basket of cookies for the trio to eat when he found them.

Sauntering down to the Forest, he gave Hagrid a wave as he passed his hut. He entered the Forest. He always loved the Forest, for he knew there was little danger as long as you were quick on the wand draw and respected the many creatures that called the Forest home. It was a gorgeous autumn day, perfect for a walk. He roamed for about 15 minutes before he found them. They were sitting on a rock beside a pond. Marlene's head was in Lily's lap and Lily had her sketchbook out. She seemed to be sketching something in the pond. He prepared himself to jump out and exclaim 'Wow, what a coincidence to find you here,' or something equally cheesy, when he heard his name. Telling himself it wasn't eavesdropping if they were talking about him, he slyly sidled up to the two girls.

"So," Marlene said, "Nothing happened last night? You guys seemed pretty chummy when you waltzed into the Great Hall this morning."

Lily snorted. "Of course nothing happened, I don't even know the kid, and nor does he know me!"

James almost snorted himself. Didn't know each other? He was pretty sure he could ace any Lily test someone threw his way, and as for her, well, she would get to know him. As he was mulling this thought in his head, he accidentally stepped on a twig. Shit! He thought.

Lily didn't seem to hear, being to caught up in her drawing, but Marlene glanced up, right into his eyes.

Oh, fuck, he thought, she sees me. But rather than ousting him, she tossed him a mischievous smile and settled back down into Lily's lap. He had no idea what she was doing.

Marlene's voice adopted a tone of disinterested casualness as she mused, "But you do find him attractive, right? I mean, he _is _a pretty great guy, don't you think?"

Lily blushed.

"Uhhh," she stammered, " I guess, I mean, maybe, I don't know, I think, uh, yeah."

James' heart literally leapt.

Marlene smiled conspiratorially. She continued, "Hmmmm… Well, what do you like most about him?" Marlene grinned to herself. Yeah, it was an underhanded tactic, but drastic measures had to be taken.

If it was possible, Lily's blush deepened. "I don't know, he is really attractive, gorgeous even, but he's definitely not my type, not that I have a type or anything… I mean, I think he would be happier with Vance or someone. We are not… really, I don't know, in the same… Ughhh… It's hard to explain. Besides, he doesn't even like me."

James almost revealed his hiding place by barking out his feelings for her. What was it about girls! They couldn't see what was right in front of them!

Lily continued, "Besides, sometimes, it seems to me, that he has a spilt personality or something. One minute, he will be tutoring first years and training kids in quidditch, then the next minute he turns around and bullies them!"

Marlene's eyes widened, this was not where this conversation was supposed to be going.

" Well, I don't know the kid that well. Ummm… Actually, I'll be right back, I have to go check on that nest of huldras I found the other day." Marlene said.

Lily started to rise, but Marlene objected. "No, don't worry about it, you stay here and finish your sketch, I'll be back in a little while."

Lily nodded and returned to her drawing.

Marlene dusted herself off and wandered away, but not before throwing James a wink.

James sighed as Marlene ambled off. He was unsure on how to approach the situation. He had been ecstatic to learn about Lily's attraction to him, but her latter admission practically chilled his bones. He had to regain her favour somehow…

He waited a couple minutes. Finally deciding she wouldn't think he had overheard her conversation, he walked up to her.

She was beautiful. She had such a look of concentration on her face; her brow was scrunched up and her tongue was slightly out of her mouth. Her hair was flowing down her back and she had taken off her sweatshirt because of her position on the warm rock. She was wearing an old turquoise tank top that looked comfortably worn in. The colour made her hair shine and her skin glow. James was bewitched.

Finally shaking himself out of his Lily-induced stupor, he cleared his throat and said charmingly, "Hey Lily!"

Although he had not known what her response would be, he was _definitely _not prepared for her reaction…

--

As Lily sat on a rock near the edge of the pond, she boxed in the shape of her next drawing. She had just completed a sketch of some sort of orange toad and had now turned her sights to a group of lily pads. Perhaps a bit inane, but Lily had nothing else to do while she awaited her friend's return.

She let out a sigh and turned her attention to the plants. Putting the preliminary lines on her illustration, her tongue involuntarily came out of her mouth. She was studying how the light was playing off of the—

"Hey Lily" A voice called out behind her.

Lily jumped, and because she had been so immersed in her drawing, assumed some sort of wild animal was preparing to attack her. The idea of a manticore or a chimera first greeting her politely before ripping her to shreds seeming completely plausible to her already distracted mind. Acting on instinct, she swung about and flailed her fists, making contact with something hard. As Lily's fist made impact, she lost her balance and fell into the pond beside her.

James Potter was struck speechless (not to mention struck physically, and he had the split lip to prove it).

Lily blinked. She was underwater. Sitting up in the murky pond, her eyes made contact with James'.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM! YOU DAMN NEAR KILLED ME!" she yelled.

Still, James said nothing. Slowly, staring at Lily's infuriated (not to mention soaked) figure, he started to laugh. He laughed some more, and eventually he fell down he was cackling so hard.

Lily stared at him. How dare he? HOW DARE HE LAUGH AT HER? She climbed out of the pond and prepared to finish the beating she had involuntarily commenced, when the absurdity of the situation struck her. Slowly, she too was overcome with the hilariousness of the circumstances. Before they knew what was happening, they were both rolling around on the ground, gasping for breath and clutching their sides. Lily could not remember ever laughing so hard.

Gradually, they came down, only intermediate chuckles escaping. As Lily calmed down, she soon began to feel the prickles of embarrassment override the absurdity of the situation. James must have noticed her discomfort for he soon quieted down as well.

Neither knew what to say.

James eventually decided someone needed to break the silence.

"Lily," he said, "I'm so sorry I startled you. I was just walking in the Forest and saw you, I wanted to say hello." A lie, but comforting nonetheless, he hoped.

Lily swallowed and tried her hardest to look blasé about the situation (quite a feat when you have a strand of seaweed stuck to your face).

"Don't worry about it, uh, I'm f—ine, fine." Her last word was interrupted by a shiver.

James tried to give her a suave smile but found himself distracted by the way her wet shirt clung to her form. The turquoise material had darkened from the water and her nipples were pronounced from the cold. James could not tear his eyes away, nor could he form coherent thought.

Lily must have noticed where his gaze lay for she turned a remarkable shade of pink and crossed her arms over her chest.

James' become aware of her distress and quickly chastised himself for his randiness. Mentally slapping himself, he offered her his coat.

"Uh, no thanks, I'll just, uh, you know, perform a drying spell." Lily stammered.

James gave himself another mental slap. She's a witch, for fuck's sake, you idiot, he thought.

Giving him a nervous smile, she performed the spell and started picking up her things.

"Wait!" James exclaimed, "Uh, I mean, you don't have to go, I brought cookies!"

Lily gave him an odd stare. "Do you always bring enough cookies for a group of people when you go strolling in the Forest?" She asked, giving him a smile.

The third mental slap for James in forty seconds, which had to be a record. "Uh, no, obviously," he responded, " I, uh, well, no." Smooth James, real smooth.

Lily wondered why he was acting so strangely, but her thoughts were interrupted by the smell of chocolate chip cookies wafting towards her.

"Um, well, I would like one, thanks, I have to wait for Marlene to get back anyway." Lily took one and sat down on the rock, looking anywhere but James' face, trying to forget that not five minutes ago he had seen her fall into the pond, not to mention that he had received a punch from her. Oh, fuck! His lip! She had forgotten about his injury.

"Dammit, Potter, is your lip okay? I'm so sorry!" She jumped up and turned his face towards her gaze.

James was about to tell her not to worry about it when she placed her hands on his face. Well, he thought, maybe it does hurt, a little…

James winced.

"Oh, bleeding hell, I'm so sorry!" she continued, "Oh, sod! Are you alright?"

James gave her a pained look. "Well," he said, "Maybe if you kiss it better…"

Without a thought to the situation and understandably dazed with remorse, Lily leaned in and softly kissed the corner of his mouth. The two gasped as something akin to an electric current passed though their lips.

James' eyelids fluttered as he felt the softness of Lily's lips touch his own; a softness that until now he had only dreamed about.

Lily slowly pulled away from his gorgeous mouth. Her eyes were wide and shocked.

The two stared at each other, both aware something special had just happened.

Lily broke first.

"Right," she stammered, "Uh, right, well, uh, thanks for the cookie. Um… yeah." She flopped down on the rock again, her blush deepening.

James smiled and collapsed beside her. He reached for a cookie whilst reliving the kiss that just happened. He stared at Lily. She was adamantly gazing ahead, anywhere but at his face.

"Thanks, Lily," he said, "My lip feels much better."

Lily gave him a panicky smile and turned her head forward again.

OmygodOmygod! IjustKissedJamesFuckingPotter! OmygodOmygod! ItWasAmazing!EverythingICouldHaveImagined! OmygodOmygod! OmygodOmygod! DontLookAtHim! Ahhhhh! DontLookAtHim! OmygodOmygod! IjustKissedJamesFuckingPotter! OmygodOmygod! ItWasAmazing!EverythingICouldHaveImagined! OmygodOmygod! OmygodOmygod! DontLookAtHim! Ahhhhh! DontLookAtHim! DontLookAtHim! DontLookAtHim! DontLookAtHim! DontLookAtHim! OmygodOmygod!

James seemed unaware of Lily's inner turmoil as he reached for another cookie.

Both students sat in silence. James because he was simply happy to be in Lily's presence and Lily because she was to mortified to move.

--

Marlene gaped at the two. She had just been returning when she saw Lily's lips make contact with James' face. Smiling manically, she decided to head back to the castle, knowing Lily would be safe with James, and that Marlene would receive the full scoop when Lily returned this evening. Practically skipping with glee, Marlene waltzed back to the castle, an enormous smile gracing her features. Yeah, this was a good day…

--

Lily glanced down at her watch. It was 2 o'clock. 2 FREAKIN' O'CLOCK! Marlene had been gone for 45 minutes! Now, normally, Lily would not worry about her fauna-curiosity inclined friend; however, Lily knew that her friend would never abandon Lily for an extended period of time without a good reason. She decided to speak up.

"Umm… Potter," she said, "I'm a little worried about Marlene. She has been gone for an awfully long time."

James stared at her, surprised she had spoken. For the last ¾ of an hour, he had been trying to coax a response out of the shy girl. He had talked about classes, quidditch, his friends, and even books yet she had never offered anything more than a timid smile or a hesitant nod.

James smiled at her. He knew she was still self-conscious about the (amazing) kiss they had shared not long ago yet she was able to overcome her reticence for concern over a friend. He adored the loyalty that showed within her.

Wishing to put her at ease, yet not wanting her to know about his and Marlene's unspoken group effort, he tried to ease her mind. "I'm sure she is fine, she probably got excited about a new discovery and ran to tell Hagrid. Why don't you write her a note on a sheet from your drawing book in case she comes back and we can head back to the castle and see if she's there?"

--

Lily shot him a demure smile as she wished she had thought of such a logical plan. Ripping out a sheet and scrawling a note to her best friend, she folded it and placed it on the rock she had been sitting on. Straightening up, she pulled on her sweatshirt and furiously told her cheeks not to blush at the thought of walking back to the castle with such a gorgeous boy. No success.

--

James smiled at Lily as she pulled her overlarge sweatshirt over her head, unbeknownst to her, sexily messing up her hair. Wanting to link hands with her but fearful of scaring her off, he debonairly took her sketchbook and the plate of cookies from her to carry up to the castle.

--

Lily smiled at her classmate. He was so considerate, so charming, and so attractive… So… So… nice…

NO! Lily screamed at herself, shaking herself out of her trance. NO! He was a bully! A scoundrel! A MARAUDER! He pranked the innocent! (Well, sort of, Lily knew the Slytherins were guilty of many transgressions…) But he did not limit himself to Slytherins! He and his friends caused mayhem wherever they went, and they were damned near rewarded for it! Girls loved them, guys respected them, teachers doted on them, things just happened for them…

Lily sighed. She had to remember that he must be planning some sort of elaborate prank, or something. She would not allow herself to be used like many of her female counterparts had been over the years. She always thought she had more self-respect than they did… Didn't she?

--

James heard Lily's sigh, and noticed her instant withdrawal. What had he done?! What had he screwed up? Things had been going magnificently well! She had kissed him for fuck's sake!

Quelling the flair of panic he felt as Lily emotionally walled herself of from him yet again, he assumed an air of friendliness and warmth that all but poured out of his ears.

"So, Lils, may I call you Lils?" he asked, not giving her time to refuse, he continued on, " Well, Lils, the boys and I are probably going to play a game of quidditch later tonight, would you like to come watch? Now that we are friends, we can get to know each other, hang out after the game, or something… What do you say? You in?"

Lily stared at him. They were not friends. Besides that temporary moment of insanity that resulted in her first kiss down at the pond (which was still playing havoc on her senses), she barely knew the kid. Thinking fast, she replied, "Oh, sorry, but I promised Marlene we would, ummm… Uh, study for… Uh, Herbology tonight. Otherwise, I would love to." Lily winced as she lied.

James turned to her; aware she was lying for some reason. He was unwilling to let her retreat into her shell once again.

"Really?" he asked, "That's weird, 'cause I was talking to her at lunch and she said you two were free tonight." A lie as well, but James was frantic.

Lily's eyes widened. "Oh, right, well, uh, we'll see…" Hah, she thought, how's that for equivocation?

James felt cornered. He was now trapped in his deception and knowing he would be distraught were Lily to think him anything other than honest, he let the issue go, mentally noting to tell Marlene about his tiny, minuscule white falsehood.

The two continued their walk in silence. Lily unconsciously started to hum. They were approaching the castle quickly. James was trying desperately to think of something to keep Lily by his side yet his usual speedy mental acumen seemed to be falling short, instead, his senses were focused on Lily's lips, from which a bewitching sound was drifting. The lilting notes enchanted James and lulled him. Never before had he heard Lily sing yet her soft humming hinted at a beautiful voice.

Lily noticed James' glazed expression and mistook it for mockery. Noticing she had been humming, she abruptly stopped.

James shook his head to clear his senses. "Lily," he began, "Do you sing?"

Lily's eyes widened. "No!" she said, " No, I mean, I don't." She glanced around anxiously, noticing they had arrived at the castle. Seeing the girls' washroom near, she made a split decision. "Uh, I'm going to go to the loo then head to the library, so, um, thanks for walking me back. Bye." Without a backward glance, she headed off, leaving a cheerless James Potter behind.

--

James stared at Lily as she ran off hastily. He tried not to stare at her swaying hips and instead focus on why she so suddenly departed. Things had been going so well! He had actually managed to get a few laughs from her. (He loved how she laughed, no cliché bell-like chime or girly giggle, but rather a deep, sexy, throaty chortle that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up in excitement.) But then her personality did a 180 without so much as a by-your-leave!

James let out an aggravated sigh. He had been looking forward to spending time with Lily (and not so naively showing off on his broom in front of her) but now he was at a loss. Turning around abruptly, he made for the Gryffindor common room in search of Lily's brunette friend who was now something of an ally for James.

Noticing he still had Lily's sketchbook in his hands, and feeling a new sense of purpose as a plan started to form in his brilliant mind, a smile appeared on his ruggedly handsome features as he contemplated the ingenious machination quickly taking shape in his head.

Yes, he thought, soon, the feel of Lily's hands in his hair, her legs entwined with his, and her sweet gasps of breath next to his ear while he pleasured her would not be something he only experienced in the throes of sleep, dreams, and fantasies…

Soon.

--

Lily practically threw herself through the door to the girls' loo, inadvertently knocking over a group of second years foolishly blocking the way (Who the bloody hell gossips in the doorway to a loo? she asked herself). Ignoring the looks of bewilderment shot her way; she entered a stall, closed the door, put the seat down and sat.

Before a couple of days ago, she had never been on the receiving end of any male attention, let alone interest from a devastatingly handsome/genius/popular (take your pick) young man.

Although Lily loved and was comfortable with herself, she had trouble seeing what others saw in her. While she did not see herself as beautiful, she did not consider herself hideous, while she did not see herself as gifted, she did not think she was brainless, and so on. She simply saw herself as Lily. Just Lily.

Sighing to herself, she decided that that was enough. Just being Lily. Feeling considerably better, if not more cheerful, she went to the sink and splashed some water on her face before making her way to the library.

--

James took the steps to his dormitory two at a time. He had wasted half an hour looking for Marlene before he had realized his idiocy of not using the Marauder's map to locate Lily's friend. Opening the door to his dorm, he quickly made his way around the room. H was fairly certain the map was either under Sirius' bed or in Peter's trunk. Or maybe the boys had used it for their prank, in which case it would—

"Hey Prongs!" A disembodied voice called out behind James, causing him to jump.

"Fucking hell, Moony!" James cried, wheeling around, "You piss ant, you startled me, I almost hexed the living shit out of you."

Remus smiled at his friend. James' hair was out of control, his robes were in disarray, and his glasses were crooked. This meant one thing: Lily.

"Really, Jamie, we both know you couldn't get a hex past me if your life depended on it," Remus said with a cocky grin gracing his refined features. James scowled at his loathed nickname. The only people allowed calling him that had been James' mother before her death and now Lily (although she didn't know it yet).

Shooting Remus an annoyed look betrayed only by the friendly glint in his eyes, he resumed his search. Getting more frustrated by the minute, he whirled around, about to ask his lycanthropic companion where his band of reprobate friends had placed the damned thing, when he found Remus casually lounging on his bed, serenely looking at the map, leisurely glancing at the many moving dots.

Feeling James' eyes on him, Remus glanced up with a ridiculously well-practiced look of innocence plastered on his handsome face. Widening his eyes for effect, he inoffensively asked, "Oh, are you looking for the map?"

James bounded over to snatch the map from his clever cohort but Remus quickly dodged his friend's attack. It seemed werewolf reflexes won out against quidditch ones.

"Tell you what, Prongsie-boy, I'll give you the map if you tell me why your carrying Lily's sketchbook in your hands." Remus said knowingly.

James glanced down at the book. Lily's book. His Lily's book.

"You know what, Wolfie?" James asked with a teasing glint in his eyes, "I don't think I will, I think I—" James was cut off when Remus made a quick grab for Lily's sketchbook and succeeded.

"OI! GIVE THAT BACK YOU WANKER!" James yelled, and lunged at his friend.

Remus laughed at his friend's possessiveness. Noticing Sirius and Peter coming into the room, he tossed the book their way. Sirius' eyes widened as he sensed the book careening toward him. Acting fast, his agile hands caught the book before his mind registered the projectile object.

Immediately realizing Remus' intentions, he tossed the book back to Remus as James careened towards him. Getting into a wrestling match, the two boys were quickly on the floor, tussling like two-year-olds and cackling like mad. Eventually, the boys were out of breath and James stood up, smiling, prepared to do whatever necessary to get the book back. He found Remus sitting on Sirius' bed, halfway through looking at Lily's sketches. Gone was the air of good humour surrounding Moony; in its place was an air of awe and profound appreciation.

Remus looked up at James and quietly said, " Wow, I had no idea she had this kind of talent, these sketches are amazing!"

James grinned at his friend, now sure he would eventually get the book back. James sat down beside Remus and looked at the sketches. Although they were magnificent, James was not as surprised as his dorm mate. James was convinced that anything Lily did with passion would be beyond compare.

As Remus went through the book, he became more and more convinced of Lily's good character. He knew that if anyone deserved such a caring, considerate, not to mention beautiful woman, it was his friend, James Potter.

"Oh. No" Remus said, quickly looking up to meet James' eyes.

James' eyebrows shot up, not sure what Remus was objecting to.

"No no no no no. Get whatever ridiculously daft plan concerning this sketchbook out of your preposterously messy head." Remus said.

James opened his mouth to object. His plan was not daft!

Remus cut him off. "No no no no, I don't know what you're planning, and I don't want to! Whatever it is, scrap it. I am now officially taking over Plan Woo-Lily."

"Honestly, Rem, fucking hell, I am _James Potter_! I highly doubt I need any help with the female sex, I—"

Again, Remus cut him off. "Look, _James Potter_, you are not dealing with the female sex, you're dealing with a female. One female. Lily Evans. So, like I said, forget whatever senseless plan you had in store for this sketchbook. I will tell you what you are going to do. You are going to march down to the common room, or wherever she is, and return it like a gentleman. You will be polite and considerate, and humble. Do I make myself clear?"

James rolled his eyes and grumbled at his friend.

Behind them, a quiet voice spoke up. "You should really listen to him Prongs," Peter said, lying lethargically on his bed, "He and Lily are together for patrols when they start up, who knows what good words he could put in for you there…" he trailed off calculatingly.

James frowned at Peter, knowing he was correct. Glancing at Remus (who had a look of victory on his face), he quickly acquiesced, knowing that his friends would always look out for him, all jokes aside.

James grabbed the map and sketchbook from Remus' hands and, straightening his robe and glasses, said through a grin, "Right, polite, how hard can that be?" And with a wink, he galloped down the stairs, with three Marauders shaking their heads simultaneously at their love struck friend.

Sirius chuckled at his whipped friend. He just hoped James didn't fuck this up too much…


	4. Chapter 4

I own nothing from Harry Potter

--

Upon entering the library, James frantically tried to flatten his hair while his eyes scanned the stacks. His gaze passed over many a flirtatious smile before coming to rest on the far corner of the room, where he distinctly saw a bright flash of red hair dash behind a bookshelf. Good, he thought, some privacy. Deliberately ignoring a few inviting whispers as he made his way to the back of the room, he deftly approached the bookshelf annoyingly obstructing his view of the ginger-haired enchantress behind it. Showtime, he though to himself as his mouth widened into a sexy grin.

--

Lily's eyes widened as she saw James Potter strut into the library. As soon as she glimpsed his athletic body and attractive eyes turn her way, she made a mad dash behind a convenient shelf. Although she doubted his presence had anything to do with her and probably more to do with some juvenile prank, she nevertheless felt too nervous to be near him. As soon as she saw his striking self swagger into the library, memories of their brief kiss came rushing back, and with them, tingling lips and blushing cheeks.

Mentally berating herself for her bashfulness, she picked up the nearest book (attempting nonchalant and blasé, but hardly exceeding timid and hesitant for she did not even notice the book was upside-down).

This was how the quidditch star found her.

--

James took a deep breath as he rounded the corner. There she was. As radiant as ever and twice as cute, for although her brow was furrowed in concentration, the title of the book she was reading was upside-down. James smiled at her adorability as he mentally cheered, now knowing that the stunning ginger was not as oblivious to his charms as she would have him believe.

"Hey Lily, good book?" he whispered in her ear.

Lily spun around quickly, her eyes wide with shock. Seeing James behind her, she hastily looked down at the volume, and noticing he had seen her reading a tome wrong side up, hastily shoved it back into the stacks. Recovering quite well (except her cheeks were on fire), she glanced up at him. Trying to sound sophisticated and mature, she asked, "What are you doing here? I thought you Marauders were averse to schoolwork?"

James smiled at her attempt at blasé, knowing that beneath her practised air of cool lay a very passionate nature.

"Well," he answered, "I could just go, but I wanted to return this." He held up her sketchbook. "But, if you don't want it, I'll just be off…" He made to walk away, knowing she would be the one chasing him for once.

Lily's mouth gaped at the newly revealed fact that James Potter, _James Potter!_ Had her most personal possession. Making a mad grab for it, she jumped up and made to snatch it.

Possessing great reflexes, James lifted the book above her short reach and all but dangled it above her. (So much for politeness, but he just couldn't resist.)

Lily, realizing she could not outreach him, decided on a different approach. Placing her hands on her hips, she gave him her best glare.

Far from intimidating, the sight of Lily in front of him, hands on her hips, feet spread, and eyes glowing, was quite arresting. Her hair was flowing down her back in waves and her surrounding aura crackled with resolve. She was glorious.

James gulped and quickly handed her book back, before he embarrassed himself.

Lily grinned at her good fortune. She had been sure that getting her sketchbook was going to be caused by some sort of WWIII rather than a mere glower. She shot James a dazzling smile half in thanks and half in triumph (for it never occurred to her that her victory had less to do with her fierce look and more to do with what her fetching appearance did to James' body).

James gulped upon seeing Lily's dazzling smile. Jesus, he thought, I'm a goner.

Lily's smile quickly faltered as she realized that it was possible that he had looked at her sketches. Her drawings were incredibly intimate. She felt protective of them, almost in a maternal sense.

"Omygosh, you didn't—I mean, you didn't, err, you know, you didn't—look at them, did you?" She stammered out, shooting him a look of utter horror.

Shite, James thought. "Uh, no! Of course not, that would have been, uh, incredibly inconsiderate of me!" James lied through his teeth. Normally, James could pull off any untruth without breaking a sweat but the sight of Lily's imploring stare was shredding his nerves, he would have said anything to put her at ease.

She let out a sigh of relief. Perhaps he wasn't as bad as she had thought…

James felt a shiver run down his spine as she sent him a hesitant smile of thanks. He returned it, all the while feeling horrible for deceiving her.

Lily glanced down nervously. "Well, um, thanks for returning it unscathed, and, err, yeah. So, I'll…see you later, I suppose." She said.

James smiled at her. "Yeah. Actually, it's almost supper, why don't we go down to the Great Hall and eat together?"

"That sounds nice," she returned, "but I have to go see Professor Slughorn for a bit. I have a couple of questions about that essay he assigned. Maybe I'll see you in the Hall after I speak to him, or something." Lily's voice got progressively quieter as she marvelled at how attractive his smile was.

"Oh, well, I can walk you there and wait outside, You're not getting away that easily." He grinned as he joked with her.

She offered a hesitant nod before she could talk herself out of it. They quickly made their way out of the library amongst whispers that James effectively ignored.

Making their way to the dungeons, James and Lily switched back and forth between light jokes and companionable silence. James revelled in her presence. He had never been with a girl with whom he could just _be _with, without incessant chatter and flirting. He was damn near joyous by the time they reached Slughorn's office. James leaned up against the wall as Lily went through the door, assuring she would not be long and tossing him a shy smile, which he returned.

James was still leaning against the wall as he heard someone scuttling along the corner. Taking in the ratty robes, the enormous amount of books crammed into his bag, and the greasy hair hanging from his pallid head, James cursed his luck as the Slytherin scurried closer.

The boy glanced up and his inky eyes connected with James'.

_Great, Snivellus…_

--

The two boys eyes locked on each other. It was hard to tell who was radiating more animosity. Snape dropped his bag and yanked his wand out of his pocket. Pointing it with shaking hands at Potter's insufferably messy head, he paused. Usually by now, Potter would have beaten him at the draw and commenced pummelling him with hexes; something was wrong.

--

James' eyes focused on the quivering piece of wood in his nemesis' hand. James knew he could take the greasy Slytherin no problem; it was the short redhead in the room next to him he was worried about. Their relationship was wobbly at best and he knew that he could risk no threat to their tremulous bond. Quelling the instinct to pound the git with curses, he shoved his hands into his pockets and said sneeringly, "Get lost, you twat. I'm already nauseous from being reminded of your existence, don't make me angry as well."

Snape's eyebrows shot up. Something was definitely up. Never before had James Potter, idiot extraordinaire, backed down from a fight. Snape smelled an opportunity a mile away; he took it.

"What's the matter, Potter? Mummy's death still eating away at you?" he asked with a sneer on his face.

James' body went rigid. He told himself to ignore the jibe. His mother had been one of the most respected people in the Ministry before her death; she was practically deified for her efforts against the Death Eaters. Still, his hand tightened on his wand.

Snape saw the minute change in body language; he went in for the kill.

"Oh, no, wait, what am I saying, of course it has nothing to do with your mother, mudblood lover that she was, let me guess… The rest of your little gang are in a tizzy? A lovers quarrel, perhaps?" Snape almost laughed in triumph at the muscle that ticked in rage in James' jaw. Opening his mouth to release another flow of insults, he suddenly stopped for he heard Slughorn's booming laugh coming from his office. Only one person could make Slughorn's voice reach that crescendo: Lily Evans.

James' eyes burned with rage, not only because of Snape's unfounded insults, but also because he saw the look of intense satisfaction in Snape's eyes. He knew.

"Ahhhh… Of course, why didn't I guess that little tramp in the beginning?" Snape asked, happiness practically dripping from his voice. "What, the mudblood whore not giving it up?"

James was no longer inactive because of resilience, his silence was now caused by the fact that he could only see red, he was so furious, he could feel every one of his veins pumping with the urge to throttle the slimy kid in front of him with his bare hands.

Swallowing, James said, "Shut your horrible excuse for a mouth! You're pathetic. Your own house thinks you're no better than the manure Professor Sprout uses in the greenhouses. You make everyone around you sick. You are _nothing."_

Snape's face darkened with ire. He was about to rejoin with something equally callous but out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a flash of red hair coming out of Slughorn's office. A new plan formed in his quick-witted mind.

"Look, Potter, I don't want any trouble." He added a quiver to his voice. "It's just, the way you were talking about Evans with your friends last night was disgusting. I don't know the girl well, but she is my partner for Potions this year and it made me want to vomit the way you were bragging about fucking her hard then leaving her as soon as she fell for you. She would never fuck such a self-righteous prick like you! I—" Snape's impromptu dialogue was interrupted when the two boys heard a gasp from behind them.

James' eyes had been full of confusion two seconds ago, but now they flashed with panic. Now he understood where Snape's ridiculous accusation came from, and by the torn look in Lily's eyes, she believed every fallacious fucking word.

Her eyes connected with James'. She was too stunned to notice the look of accomplishment in Snape's eyes.

"No! Lily! That's not –" James was cut off when Lily turned around and started to run blindly. His feet immediately started to chase her, to explain. He was so anxious to right this wrong, he didn't hear the zoom of a body-binding curse shot his way from Snape's wand. He landed hard on the floor and he could only watch as Lily's body rocketed down the dungeon floor.

His eyes shot up to Snape's as he heard his footsteps approaching. Snape leisurely bent down to James' level, a disgusting look of glee gracing his sharp facial features. Turning James' body over slightly, so he could look in his eyes, he whispered joyfully, "As if a girl like her could ever, _ever, _be interested in a fuckwit like you." Straightening up, he picked up his overloaded bag of books and exited the dungeon, but not before sending a vicious kick to James' midsection.

--

Yes, Severus thought, let's see the brilliant James 'I'm an arrogant tyrant' Potter get himself out of this one. By the time Severus reached the library, he was whistling a tune and his mouth was curved in an incredibly rare smile. Yeah, it was going to be a good day…

--

Lily ran blindly down the corridor. Not noticing, not caring where her numb feet led her. How could she have been so stupid? She screamed at herself. She had told herself a million times that James 'fucking' Potter was a cretin whose sole aim had been to ruin her from the very beginning.

Soon, Lily was panting from her exertion, tears running down her face, staining her cheeks. Although she was gasping for breath, her feet continued their frenzy path. That is, until she careened into a heavy object and went sprawling to the ground.

Bewildered, she shook herself out of her stupor as her mind registered that her face was plastered to the ground.

"Bugger, Evans," a laughing voice called out, "If I had known you were so anxious to lay a hand on me, you wouldn't have had to jump me. Literally, might I add."

On the ground, Lily let out a groan of frustration, for she recognized the confidant drawl. Of course this would happen. Of course she would have a run-in with the rest of the Marauders after discovering that their leader had intended to screw her over (both literally and metaphorically). Her nightmare was made a reality when she pulled herself of the ground and faced the boys in front of her. Their jovial expressions quickly dissipated when they saw the tears running down her cheeks.

Suddenly, the rage within Lily came to a boiling point. She wanted to injure every single jackass that would mess about with a girl's hormones simply because he could. She wanted to macerate and slimy bigots who whispered mudblood in her ear every time she correctly answered a question in class. But most of all, she wanted to slap herself for opening up to a boy who she had known would only hurt her. In a word, Lily was _pissed_.

Her fiery green eyes connected with her counterparts. Both Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were staring at her with horrified eyes. Oh, she thought to herself, they were _good. _If she hadn't known about their malicious deception, she would have fallen for their practiced looks of innocence.

"Are you happy?" she whispered to them.

"What?" Remus asked, bewilderment and concern lacing his question.

"I asked," she began, "_Are. You. Happy?_"

The two boys looked at each other, an unspoken question passing between them. _What the bleeding fuck had Prongs done?_

"Look, Lily, I have no idea—" Sirius stared.

"Don't you dare try to deny it," she spat at him, "You know what? I don't even want to hear it." The two boys' eyes widened at the quiver in Lily's voice. Lily's voice _never _quivered.

Before the two Marauders could sort out what the redhead was so furious about, she turned and ran off in the direction of Gryffindor tower. Remus went to chase her, but Sirius held him back.

"No, mate," Sirius said, "We have to find Prongs, see what he did to her, and sort this mess out."

Both boys reluctantly turned and went in search of their messy haired friend.

--

James Potter stared at the ceiling. He had long ago ceased attempting to break the bonds that held him; if there was one thing Snivellus knew, it was his dark magic. James' only course of action was to wait for someone to rescue him. The only thing he could be thankful for was the fact that Slytherins rarely ventured into this part of the dungeons, but then again, neither did any Gryffindors…

Being in such an awkward position at least gave James some time to think. He had to, simply had to, rectify this bloody mess.

Lily had been so unsteady with him since the beginning; he had no idea how to approach the situation, especially since it looked to her as if he hadn't run after her. He let out an aggravated sigh, the discomfort of the stone floor was really starting to get to him, but not nearly as much as the recent developments in his relationship with Lily. He felt helpless. Before now, he had never fully known true powerlessness. Things had always come easy to him. Before Lily, that is. Grades, friends, girls… He had never known the pain of vulnerability until he hit this dungeon floor and the impact of what Lily had heard had hit him. The way she had looked at him, he had felt his insides rip when he had seen the expression in her eyes go from astonishment to pure, unadulterated, pain.

He shut his eyes as his masochistic memory replayed the event over and over in his mind. Again and again, he saw the devastation radiating from Lily's being and the joy exuding from Snape's. As he thought of Snape's supreme satisfaction with the situation, his muscles clenched.

_He will pay… He will suffer… He will endure hurt that he didn't even know existed…_

As these murderous thoughts rampaged through his head, he heard a number of footsteps approaching. He couldn't turn his head to see to whom they belonged. He just hoped they were friends, opposed to foes…

--

Lily stampeded up the staircase to her room, ignoring the questioning looks she was receiving from her schoolmates lounging in the common room. Her entire being was solely focused on getting to her dorm and collapsing on her bed, hopefully numbed to her pain by then.

--

Marlene was whistling to herself. She actually had the dorm to onesies for once, without the incessant chattering of her vivacious, but somewhat annoying, roommates. Mar had decided to straighten up her dorm while she anxiously awaited Lily's return. She was still very incredulous to the rapid advancement of James and Lily's relationship. Imagine, only last year Lily had reamed him out in front of half their year down by the lake, and now they were snogging in the forest! Marlene smiled to herself, knowing that if anyone deserved to be happy, it was her best friend.

Still smiling, Marlene righted all her stationary on her bookshelf, avoiding under her bed. She only needed to kill a couple hours, cleaning under her bed would require days, and possibly a search party…

As Marlene was alphabetizing her books, she heard heavy footsteps approaching her doorway. It was probably Vance panicking over a run in her nylons, she chuckled to herself. All her previous amusement vanished the instant Lily staggered into view, her tears obvious and her limbs shaking.

_Oh no,_ she thought to herself, _what the hell had he done?…_

--

"Fucking hell, mate," James heard a familiar voice say above him, "What happened?"

Although James could not see his saviour, he would know that voice anywhere. Sirius Black.

"He can't answer you, dolt," another welcomed voice answered, " He's obviously body-bound."

"_Obviously…" _Sirius muttered as he undid the curse.

Feeling slowly returned to James' body, along with a new sense of dread. What the hell was he going to do? Jumping up quickly, he whirled around to face his friends, meeting their questioning expression with a look of rage.

"That son of a bitch! I'm going to bloody murder him with my bare hands!" James yelled, quickly turning, preparing to run of in search of the slimy sixth year. Just as quickly, he felt two pair of hands grab onto him to stay him.

"Whoa, Prongs," Remus said, "What the hell is happening? We find you on the floor, bound, we find Lily crying, running as though she has hell on her heels out—"

James cut him off.

"What! You saw Lily? Where did she go? I have to explain! I have to talk to her! I have—"

Sirius cut him off in a similar manner.

"Damn right you have to explain, but to us first. Why were you attacked? And more significantly, why was Lily 'stoic extraordinaire' Evans crying when she all but ran us over?"

James ran an aggravated hand through his hair. "It was all a misunderstanding. Snape told—"

"Snape! I should have known that rat had something to do with this!" Sirius said.

Remus shot him a look for interrupting.

"Yeah," James continued, " I was waiting for Lily outside Slughorn's office when he walked by. I tried to ignore him but he just kept trying to pick a fight. Eventually, he saw Lily come out of the office before I did so he pulled a 180, spouting some ridiculous bull about me bragging about fucking her then leaving her. I had no idea what he was talking about and by the time a I figured out the true extent of his plan, Lily was halfway down the corridor and I was intimately acquainted with the dungeon floor."

The two boys stared in disbelief at the horrible situation.

"That slimy git!" Sirius ground out, "When I get a hold of him…" This threat was followed by a group of obscene and violent hand gestures.

Remus held up his hand. "Yes, we have to take care of Snape, but it's more important that we handle Lily's reaction first. The longer you wait to talk to her, Prongs, the worse it will be."

James knew his friend spoke the truth, and was happy (not for the first time) that he had such a sensible friend. James ran another hand through his messy hair (this time less aggravated, more resigned). " Right," he said, "You're right, I'll go talk to her now, to explain…" Without another word, he jogged of towards the Gryffindor tower, all the while agonizing over what he would say to make things right.

--

Marlene stared helplessly at her friend. What could she possibly say to make this better? Although Lily's version of the story was frequently interrupted by hiccups and Kleenex-breaks, Marlene had a firm grasp on the situation. How could she have been so stupid? She had honestly believed that James' interest in her friend had been genuine, that someone had finally seen what an amazing girl Lily was. But obviously, she had been wrong.

Lily was lying lethargically on her bed. Not moving, not caring, when it hit her… How many times had she seen her roommates fling themselves on their bed, crying their heavily made-up eyes out over some boy who didn't appreciate them? How many times had she seen her classmates suffer from a boy's indifference and apathy? Too many to count… When had she become like them? All her school career she had pitied their lack of self-worth but the second a boy had started paying attention to her, her holier-than-thou attitude melted away. Sitting up suddenly, the situation started to take on a new light.

Marlene glanced at her friend. "Uh, Lils?" she said quietly, asking without words why her friend had abruptly sat up.

Lily glanced at her friend. What right did she have to feel sorry for herself? She had Marlene, the best friend a girl could ask for. She had her schoolwork, her family, her pastimes, but most importantly, she had herself. And no jumped up self-obsessed quidditch captain could ever take that away.

"You know what, Mar?" Lily said, "I should really be thankful. Yeah. Thankful. I mean, I barely even liked the kid. Better to know now than find out when it was too late…"

Marlene smiled at her friend, and almost believed her, except for the slight quiver in her voice every time she said thankful. Rather than pressing the issue, she just smiled wider at Lily's new outlook on the situation, whether real or contrived.

"Yeah," Lily continued, "Thankful… Yeah… Ummm… You know, I don't feel like being cooped up in here any longer. Why don't we go down to the library and start that Herbology assignment, or something?"

Marlene was surprised at her friend's suggestion but tried to hide it. "Uh, sure. Sure, that sounds, uh, great!"

Lily smiled at her friend. "Cool," Lily said, "I just want to have a shower first. Why don't I meet you down there?"

Both girls knew Lily took ridiculously long showers.

Marlene agreed and went to gather her materials as Lily prepared her shower.

--

As Lily loped down the stairs of her dormitory, her hair still damp from her shower, She had almost convinced herself she was not affected by James' newly revealed callousness. Almost. Perhaps she would have succeeded had she not run into him at the bottom of the stairs, as if he had been waiting for her…

She tried to walk past him, ignoring his presence, but he grasped her arm to stop her.

This caused a definite reaction.

"Don't touch me!" She snarled at him and made to yank her arm away.

"Look, Lily, please, you have to understand. I didn't—"

"Look, _Potter, _spare me. As far as I'm concerned, the only sound I want to hear from you is the sound of your footsteps going far, far, away." She growled at him through clenched teeth.

"No, Lily, you don't under—" he started again.

"No, I think I understand perfectly…" she interrupted, "Not that it matters. Or need I remind you? I would rather date the oct-pedalled creature in the lake than be caught anywhere near the likes of you!"

James' eyes narrowed, not wanting to admit how much her words hurt him. His pride reared its ugly head, and he did something he would regret for the next year or so of his life.

"Fine, _Evans,_" he said, his voice dangerously low, "That's just fine."

The two stared at each other before Lily turned unexpectedly and stalked off to the library, leaving James feeling as if he had just torn his heart out and fed it to one of Hagrid's 'pets'.

Why had he reacted like that to her insults? Why hadn't he just screamed the truth at her, forced her to listen? Her reminder of their interaction at the lake had reopened old wounds of his that had never fully healed. He had wanted to hurt her the same way she had hurt him, but now, he was the one suffering… How was he going to get out of this one?

--

James sat in the back row of McGonagall's classroom, half worshipping, half-resenting the way the sunlight bounced off Lily's brilliant hair. It had been six days, _six days! _since their heated encounter in the common room. At first, he had been reluctant to swallow his pride and apologize, but now it was more a matter of Lily's ability to slip out of his reach. He had quickly realized that a Lilyless existence was not something he wished to be subjected to for a prolonged period of time, and he had attempted corner her to beg for forgiveness and reveal his innocence of Snape's accusations. But, as fate would have it, he had found out the hard way that Lily had traces of a Marauder in her: hard to track down if she wanted to stay unfound and even harder to latch onto when located.

He watched as she bent over to retrieve her quill that had just fallen of her desk. As she leaned forward, her shirt rode up and James almost let out an audible moan at the milky expanse of skin her position revealed. Jesus, he had to get a hold of himself! She wouldn't even look at him anymore, let alone want anything to do with that…. aspect of a relationship…

James let out a bored sigh as he reclined in his wooden desk. Did Minnie just say they'd be turning cacti into a bonnet? For fuck's sake, James thought, we're not first years. He tuned out completely then, knowing he could do this in his sleep…

--

On the other side of the room, our redheaded protagonist was not feeling nearly as confident. Although by no means a dunce when it came to Transfiguration, Lily always felt that transfiguring things came much harder to her (although she loathed admitting it).

After McGonagall finished her lecture, Lily went up to the front to retrieve a cactus for Marlene and herself. Carefully timing her walk so she would come into no contact with Potter, she returned with two plants.

Marlene gave her a half-smile as she received her little prickly plant. She was by no means a fan of Transfiguration either.

Lily let out a sigh of resignation as she read the instructions for the fourth time. Oh well, she thought, no time like the present. Looking over, she saw that Marlene's cactus had at least started to take on a paisley pattern, unlike Peter Pettigrew's, two rows over, whose cactus had actually sprouted legs and tried to run off. Peter had to keep whacking it with his wand to keep it in his grasp, much to the amusement of his friends.

Lily's thoughts turned to the band of miscreant Marauders in the back row (3 of whom had been successful on their first attempt and were now trying on their bonnets and fluttering their eyelashes at professor McGonagall (who was unsuccessfully trying to still her amused lips.) Just thinking about James and his friends made her scowl. Although she still told herself she was thankful that she had found out about Potter's malicious intentions before anything, well, you know, _happened, _she knew that deep down, that was untrue. The boy had the Alexander the Great's charisma and Casanova's charm, how could any girl remain immune? Letting yet another sigh escape her lips, her attention returned to her cactus, its little untransfigured prickles mocking her inabilities. Maybe if she—

"Miss Evans," an authorative voice interrupted her musings, "Perhaps if you tried waving your wand, your cactus might react."

Lily blushed a deep, deep, red as her mind registered that a teacher (her head of house, no less) had just told her off. Her classmates laughed openly at the fact that a teacher had just scolded quiet little Lily Evans.

"I don't think that's true, Minerva, with all due respect," a confidant voice spoke up in the back. "It's no secret Evans' wand couldn't transfigure a worm into a toothpick, let alone attempt anything more advanced than that."

Lily whirled around at the callous remark, her eyes connecting with those of Sirius Black, the one who had made the jibe. Instead of seeing the usual mirth and immaturity that was typically reflected in his eyes, she noticed he was staring at her with something akin to contempt.

Bloody hell, she thought, why is he so angry? _His _friend hurt _me_! I should be the one ragging on him! Trying to quell the feelings of mortification washing over her, she sank lower in her chair and weakly waved her wand over the cactus. No change. Figures…

--

Sirius Black stared at the redhead as she sunk into her chair. He felt a sadistic pleasure, knowing he had hurt her pride, the same way she had hurt his friend's pride. Before he could really enjoy her discomfort, he received a quick jab from James. He glanced over and saw his James glaring at him.

Honestly! What was he supposed to do? He had just witnessed six days of Prongs feeling dejected and whining over Lily like she was some sort of goddess, or something…

As he faced James, he realized that Minnie was talking to him.

" – more respect! 10 points from Gryffindor!" she ground out at him.

Rather than being embarrassed, he gave her a wink. Please, he could get 10 points for Gryffindor in his sleep!

--

Remus stared at the interaction in the classroom. He knew that Sirius was not really aggravated with Lily, just with the situation. The Marauders were used to being in control, especially when it came to girls, so it was understandable that they would all feel a little out of their element now that they were dealing with a bird that didn't simply fall at their feet…

Oh well. Remus thought as he untied his bonnet, prefect patrols starts tonight. That leaves one ace still up our sleeve…

--

The halls were unusually quiet tonight, serving only to highlight the uncomfortable awkwardness between the redhead and the werewolf. Remus valiantly tried to nurture conversation but he quickly found out that Lily had some sort of weird Potter-detection superpower; every time he tried to bring up his friend's plight he would receive a glare that Remus would wager would effectively silence Voldemort himself. Ergo, Remus had very little wiggle room when it came to championing his friend, but he figured he had patrols all year with Lily, why not develop more of a rapport with her? After all, she seemed to be the kind of person he could really like, which would help if she and James could ever get over themselves.

"So, Lily… Uh, have you started that essay Sprout gave us last week?" Remus asked, mentally slapping himself for his new level of banality.

"Yes." Lily simply replied, offering no further details.

"Oh, that's good." He replied. "Ummmm… Finding it difficult?"

"No." She answered.

"Sticking with monosyllabic answers. Consistency is an admirable trait." He said to her with a friendly wink, hoping to crack a smile.

No luck.

Lily was actually wishing they would come across some snogging fourth years or something to break up this stilted conversation. Didn't this boy give up?

Remus sighed to himself. Usually when he was alone with girls, he couldn't stop the flow of constant chattering from their mouths, now he found himself wishing Lily would say something, say anything! He knew Prongs would grill him the second he returned to the dormitory, and he had nada to report.

"Look, Lily," he began, feeling something akin to desperation, "James didn't have anything to do—"

"Ughhh!" Lily semi-yelled, and whirled to face him. "What is your problem! Don't you boys see anything, or are your enormous egos blocking your corneas! I don't like him! I never did! I never will! In fact! I don't even like you! SO WHY DON'T YOU SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE! YOU BOYS ARE SO SELF-CENTERED! MY GOSH, YOU THINK YOU'RE THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE AND THE REST OF US MERELY REVOLVE AROUND YOU!" Lily's fierce eyes gave him the glaring of a lifetime as he stood there, completely speechless.

"Wow, Look, Lily, I—"

"DID I SAY I WAS DONE? It's rude to interrupt." The irony of her last statement seemed to be lost on her. She continued her tirade. " Look, just go back and tell him he and all of your little friends had better just leave me and Marlene alone, got it?"

He stared at her in surprise.

"GOT IT?" she asked again.

"Uh, yeah, got it." He said, with something similar to respect in his eyes.

"Right. Well, good, then." She said, now beginning to feel embarrassment for her outburst. "Right. So, look. Let's just get this over with. You go that way, I'll go this way."

"But we're not supposed to spilt—"

She was already gone. Great.

--

Remus ran his hand over his face as he ascended the stairs to his dorm. Hoping to quietly slip in unnoticed, he slowly turned the doorknob. Tiptoeing in, he—

"How'd it go?" a voice called out from a body lying on top of James' bed.

Remus gave up his attempt at light footsteps and threw himself on his bed.

"Well," Remus began, " Do you mean before or after she yelled at me then stormed off?"

James swore and crossed his arms in frustration. "Dammit. What did she say?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Oh, you know, the usual. We're self-centred berks and the like."

Sirius spoke up. "We're not self-centred, we're just confident. Honestly, that chick has a wand shoved up her—"

Remus glared at him.

"Fine, you ol' stick in the mud." Sirius said. "I don't see what the big deal is, Prongs. She's a bird. You know all about girls. Just up the Pottter charm and she will melt like butter."

Peter spoke up. "She's not just some bird, Padfoot, she's _Lily Evans!_"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Honestly! All this _Lily Evans _business! Its ridiculous! A bird is a bird is a bird is a bird! Look, Prongs, the meek apology is obviously not working, it's time to up the ante."

"How so?" James asked.

"You dunce," Sirius said, laughingly whilst aiming a pillow at his head. "I'm not giving you the birds and the bees talk _again, _you know the drill, innuendos, pick-up lines, hanging out together at quidditch celebrations, I guarantee you, she will be mad in love with you after a couple of tries."

James caught the pillow and threw it back. "I don't mean to offend the oh-so-great self-proclaimed deity of women, but Wormtail is right, there's no way in hell Lily would ever fall for that."

"I beg to differ," Sirius said, "the only reason Evans seemed more immune to our charms is because no one has ever tried it with her."

"What!" James asked disbelievingly. "I was trying to get her to like me for ages. I—"

"Oh, please, Prongs," Sirius interrupted. "I'm not talking about your pansy 'please be my friend so we can prance about in a flower garden and read sonnets to each other' crap. What you need to do is be the man in the relationship! Women like to be treated like damsels and other shit like that."

"I don't know…"James said slowly.

"Well, I do," Sirius interjected. "So just listen to me. Tomorrow, you will go up to her and ask her to the Hogmeade trip this weekend. Do not take no for an answer. At least when she agrees, the rest of us will be saved from your constant whining over the girl for a couple days."

"I still don't—"

"Ugh! Fine then! I dare you to ask Lily to Hogmeade this weekend! Happy now?" Sirius said.

No, James was not happy. A Marauder dare was practically a command from God. He had to complete it. Fucking hell, it looked like Lily was getting asked out tomorrow…

--

She was in hell.

That was the only logical answer.

Lily sighed to herself as she tried to focus on Binns' voice and ignore the niggling suspicion that she had snuffed it last night and awoke to a world where she had double History of Magic with the Marauders and Slytherins, patrols with Lupin, and Potions with Snape! How the hell was she supposed to survive the year when the very universe was out to get her!

Looking down at her notebook and seeing that all she had to show for half a History class was the date and a drawing of a John Lennon beating Binns with a large tree branch. Great, now even her doodles didn't even make sense!

Growling, she crossed out her drawing and tried to pay attention to the front. A futile attempt, for she felt a ball of paper hit her head. Whirling around, she saw Potter give her a cheeky wave and point to the paper ball, obviously meaning for her to read the note scrawled on it. Scoffing, she turned to the front (but not before sharing a miserable glance with Marlene, who looked ready to tear her hair out of her scalp to make sure she hadn't expired from boredom and just failed to notice.)

Lily listened to Binns' voice. It sounded surprisingly like the drone of a motor, very calming, soothing, almost sleep inducing…

Lily gasped in shock when she felt another paper ball hit its mark, breaking the lull the droning was having on her.

Her knuckles turned white with frustration as the minutes ticked by and the amount of paper balls around her increased. The class had long ago awoke from their stupor and was being entertained by the Gryffindor quidditch captain pelting the redhead with parchment.

Lily closed her eyes in an attempt to quiet her rage. If he threw one more ball….

And he did.

Letting out a roar fit for an Amazon queen, Lily jumped out of her desk and threw her History of Magic textbook at Potter (missing, of course, it hit the wall and fell to the floor with a resounding thump.)

No one moved.

Lily glanced at Marlene. She was looking at her as if she was wearing a telescope on her head and announcing she was Frieda the Forgetful back from the dead.

Lily slowly sat down, hoping against hope that she would be swallowed up into the floor by a gaping hole and cease to exist.

Near the back, she heard Black let out a low wolf whistle, apparently in appreciation of her lack of accuracy.

Lily glanced up at the professor. He was gaping at her! GAPING! Binns did not gape! She hadn't even thought he had had any facial muscles!

He started to splutter. "Well! I! I never! That is just—In all my years! That's it! Evretts! Detention! Tonight!"

Lily wanted to die. In all her years at Hogwart's, she had never had a detention! She sunk into her chair amidst giggles and cursed the day she met James Potter. It was his fault!

Marlene put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Marlene had served detentions before, usually for being caught in the forest, _again. _

Lily rubbed her eyes as she willed the clock hands to move faster. After what felt like an eon, the class was finally let out, but not before Binns reminded her to come to the classroom after supper tonight. Honestly, the man couldn't even remember her name, yet her humiliation seemed to be easy enough to recollect!

She gathered her books and shoved them hastily into her bag, hoping to deter everyone from commenting about her recent mortification. Obviously, the fates had different ideas.

"So, Lils," a voice called out behind her. "Detention, eh? Honestly, you do have a certain streak for unprovoked attacks."

Lily whirled around and faced the voice. Sirius Black. That's just great.

"Really," he continued, "First, you land Prong's in the Hospital Wing with you with a snake bite, than you almost run me over in the hallway, and _then _you chuck a book at Prong's head! I see a pattern developing."

She stared at her verbal attacker; he was flanked by his popular friends. They always seemed to attack in numbers. Sniffing in what she hoped was a dignified manner, she refused to answer him. Marlene saw this and decided to step in.

"Really, Black," Marlene said, "Have you ever noticed that you always seem to need at least two of your friends panting after you before you deign to pick on someone? You're just scared is all. Why don't you back off, unless, of course, you want to wake up with a hungry niffler in your bed tomorrow."

Lily sent a silent look of thanks to her friend.

Sirius, though, seemed anything but insulted. "You know, _Mar, _you seem so eager to get near my bed, all you have to do is ask." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Wow," she said coolly to him, "I think I just vomited in my mouth."

Turning quickly, she pulled Lily through the classroom doors, but she still heard Black's parting comment, "No need to deny, McKinnon, the quiet ones are always the kinkiest!"

The girls made their way to the Great Hall for dinner, both blushing profusely and cursing the Marauders.

Dinner passed all too quickly for Lily's taste. She could hear her peers whispering about the incident and she could also hear the Marauders' loud laughter.

She watched time fly by until Marlene told her she couldn't wait any longer without risking getting another detention for tardiness. Reluctantly, Lily agreed. She made her way to the classroom, dragging her feet.

She turned to knob slowly; wishing lightening would strike her and get her out of this mess. She slowly walked into the classroom, and looked up at Binns' desk. A polite greeting died on her lips. For instead of seeing Binns' beady black eyes staring at her, she saw James Potter leaning back in the professor's chair, as though he sat there all the time.

"Hey, Lils." He said, obviously amused at her dumbstruck look.

What the bloody hell was going on?

--

James stared at the dumbstruck girl in front of him. He smirked at her look of horror. He was about to comment on her apparent lack of mental acumen, but he stopped himself. Remembering Sirius' advice, he ran a hand through his hair and tried his best to adopt a sexy smile.

"What are you, I mean, why—what the hell!" Lily spluttered out, turning a surprising colour of red.

"What," he said, his voice sounding seductive next to her shrill screech, "Can't a guy visit his favourite girl?"

Lily narrowed her eyes at his light banter. Scoffing at him, she whirled around and went to sit in her usual seat. She would just ignore this miscreant until Binns deigned to grace her with his vapid presence…

--

James stared at Lily's brilliant hair, glowing eyes, and blushing cheeks. So many times he had to stop himself from prostrating himself at her feet and begging forgiveness. He couldn't, not now that he had implemented Sirius' plan (that was failing more every second).

Whistling to himself, he decided he just needed to up the Potter charm, yeah, that was it. Lily just needed to see what a great guy he was and she would come to realize what an idiot Snape was.

Glancing over at her, he noticed she was bouncing her foot in irritation. The rapid movement was making her chest jiggle, which was in turn doing untold things to James sensibilities. Jesus, he thought, as he crossed his legs.

"Erm, Lily," he began, his voice actually cracking! He cleared his throat. " I mean, uh, Evans, Binns left this note for you, here, on his desk."

"What!" Lily said, jumping up. "That's been here this whole time and you just decided to tell me now!"

James leaned back in his seat, merely smirking that much harder.

Sighing in exasperation, Lily grabbed the note.

_Miss Evernas,_

_Due to a large amount of unavoidable responsibilities _(Lily scoffed at the blatant lie) _I will be unable to join you this evening. However, you will write "I must not throw the History of Magic textbook across the room for it is a valuable learning tool that should be respected at all times" on the chalkboard 50 times._

_That is all._

_Professor Binns_

Lily groaned. Could he have possibly created an even longer line? Shooting a frustrated look at Potter, she grudgingly went over to the chalkboard and commenced.

James laughed when he saw the insanely long line Lily had to rewrite over and over. Upon hearing his chuckle, she turned around and gave him a glare. Still chortling to himself, he sent her a hearty wink (and felt his insides wither when she seemed even more immune than ever.)

--

Lily wrung her hand out. It was hard work. She had quickly realized that she would have to write minusculy to accommodate all fifty lines. Also, she could feel Potter's eyes boring into her back. She refused to acknowledge his presence, but she soon found herself wishing he would just go up in a puff of smoke, or fall out of a window.

--

James knew she was almost finished, he also knew his staring was making her uncomfortable. He could see her neck muscles twitching in irritation and her eyes darting over him every once and a while.

Meanwhile, he was trying to figure out a plan. She would be heading back to the common room soon, and he needed to ask her out. More importantly, he needed her to say yes. Although he was usually confidant to the point of annoying, the second his eyes connected with hers he became a bundle of nerves, tripping over his words and acting like an idiot.

After what seemed like ages, he saw her sign her name at the bottom of the board. She turned quickly around and picked up her books, hoping to escape him, but by the time she was ready to leave, he was already holding the door open for her with a smile on his face.

She sighed and walked out the door briskly, hoping he would by some chance of God, lose interest in the chase. No such luck.

"So, Evans," he began, his voice sounding rather husky and mature. "We're playing Ravenclaw on Friday, are you coming?"

"If Marlene drags me, I suppose," she replied, trying to sound bored. In all actuality, she enjoyed getting outdoors and watching the games, but the last person she would tell that to was this messy-haired quidditch fanatic.

"Cool," he said, "I'll dedicate all my goals to you, then." Yet another wink. Maybe the kid had an eye twitch.

Lily made a sound halfway between a snort and a scoff; she refused to dignify that with an answer. She sped up, fervently wishing the founders had built the tower closer to the History of Magic classroom.

Only another flight of stairs to go…

"Right," he continued, ignoring her rebuff, "Then, I was thinking we could go to Hogsmeade this Saturday, to celebrate and all that. What do you say?"

She stared at him. Was he deranged?

Again, she ignored his question as she said the password to the tower.

Climbing through, she tried to ignore both the sound of his voice and the many eyes witnessing their encounter.

"Come on, Evans, all the girls want to be the one to go out with me. You should really be thankful."

By the new level of rage in her eyes, that was apparently the wrong thing to say.

"Ha!" she yelled, catching Potter and the rest of the common room off guard. "Thankful, you say? Thankful! Yeah, right Potter!"

Apparently, the boy didn't understand the value of sarcasm.

"Great!" he said, "I'll meet you—"

"Oh my god, Potter! You cannot seriously think I would ever, EVER, voluntarily be within 20 feet of you! You make me ill!"

All surrounding viewers' mouths dropped at her audacity. No one talked to James Potter like that!

"Look, Evans—" he began, only to be interrupted again.

"No! YOU look, Potter. You had best leave me alone, unless you want one VERY pissed of redhead on your hands."

And with that, she stormed past him to the staircase leading to her room, but not before yelling at her audience, "NOTHING TO SEE! GET BACK TO YOUR WORK!"

After her exit, all heads swerved around to stare at the popular Marauder. Rather than allow his audience to see how much Lily's words had hurt him, he gave a dramatic bow and went to climb the stairs to his room. He didn't feel like having to explain that outburst to the gossip-starved people in the common room, especially when Vance was looking at him like he was some sort of delectable meal.

Ugh, shudder…

--


	5. Chapter 5

I own nothing from Harry Potter

--

"Come on, Lils, if you go any slower, we won't get seats!"

Lily scowled at her well-meaning friend, yet picked up her pace nonetheless. She and Marlene were heading down to the quidditch pitch for the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match. Lily had slept in (she had been up late, practically barricaded in the library in hopes of hiding from Potter. She had managed spectacularly well, due to a well-placed disillusionment charm). Waking up to a pillow thrown at her head and Marlene screeching that they were going to be late may not be her usual choice of wake-up call, but Lily was still relatively cheery, looking forward to a match that she was sure was going to prove entertaining, if nothing else.

The two girls jogged down to the pitch. Approaching it, they could hear the hum of the sugar-hyped quidditch fans and Sirius Black's magnified voice announcing the players' names. Good, they hadn't missed much. Now, their only difficulty would be finding a seat in the throng of students, woot.

As Lily drew near, she saw the players were flying laps around the pitch, amidst many cheers. Lily threw a disdainful look at the player the highest in the sky, James Potter. Reminding herself it was likely he would be injured, maimed, or otherwise harmed grievously in the next hour, the euphoria of the atmosphere struck her and she began feeling more cheerful. Glancing around, she saw a sea of gold and scarlet, but no empty seats. Sharing a look with Marlene, she was about to suggest they go sit on the grass somewhere when she heard Marlene's name called over the din, in a magnified voice.

"MCKINNON!" it called again, "There's a seat for you and your friend by me!"

Lily and Marlene slowly turned around. Sirius 'fucking' Black. The crowd quieted significantly at the surprise occurrence that the sexy Marauder would notice, let alone help out the two misfits, but they quickly loudened up again when the girls meekly made their way over to the boy, their pretty faces flaming with embarrassment.

Sirius, seeing them coming, unmagnified his voice and threw them a wink.

"Don't look so cocky, you miscreant," Marlene said, ignoring his assessing stare, "The only reason we are within a hundred feet of your sorry arse is because there are no other seats!"

Sirius smiled at her pluck. "Honestly, McKinnon, you seem to have a profound interest in my arse. At the celebration party tonight, I could give you a private look at—"

Marlene interrupted him before she could go even redder. "Look, Black, there isn't going to be a celebration party if you don't start commenting, look, Hooch is on the field."

Sirius glanced down at the pitch, wishing he had had a couple more minutes to spar with Marlene and maybe even get some Prongs-promotion in with the redhead. Oh, well, another time.

"Right you are, sweets, I'm afraid we will have to continue this tonight. If you ladies will excuse me…" He raised his wand and performed the magnifying spell.

Lily and Marlene exchanged looks (Lily's of exasperation and Marlene's of embarrassment tinged with happiness. Lily would have to tease her mercilessly once they were out of hearing range of the gorgeous longhaired Marauder.)

The game was well matched, yet it was obvious after awhile that Ravenclaw simply couldn't keep up. They had a superb defence yet Potter seemed to be able to outfly them with ease. He scored goal after goal, to the point that Lily felt like banging her head on the wooden bleachers; she knew from past experience that the next week was going to be uber hero-worship, great….

The game became more intense as Gryffindor racked up the points. Ravenclaw started taking chances that didn't pay off. By the time the score was 250-30, it seemed both sides just wanted someone to get the snitch.

Just when Lily thought the Ravenclaw captain was going to pull his own hair out, it happened.

Both seekers saw the snitch.

The stadium held it breath (all except Sirius, he seemed to be a plethora of witty comments). The two seekers were neck and neck; Lily was unsure at first which one had grasped the snitch for they were nothing more than blurs racing across the sky. However, Sirius seemed to have a knack for his job. He was able to see the victorious seeker a mile away.

"And it's Ravenclaw who catches the snitch! Ravenclaw gets another 150 points, but GRYFFINDOR WINS! 250-180!"

The commotion was deafening.

The Gryffindor team flew to the ground and piled on their captain. Ravenclaw looked exhausted, but satisfied that they had given their all.

From the stands, Lily saw the two captains exchange a handshake and a few words.

--

"Nice game, Potter," the tall, handsome Ravenclaw captain said, his split lip (from a bludger hit earlier) cracking when he exchanged a smile with the Marauder.

"You too, Baldwin," James said over the din surrounding him. "Fucking great defensive line you've got lined up. You're going to flatten Hufflepuff next match."

The two shared a parting smile as James was lifted in the air. He glanced around; Remus was being hugged by the rest of the team, Peter was chanting, "Gryffindor ROCKS!" over and over, that just left Sirius, the same Sirius who had gotten to spend the entire match with the most gorgeous girl in school, Lily Evans. James wondered if Lily had noticed him look her way every time he scored a goal, he doubted it…

His eyes glanced over the stands, coming to rest on his friend, his crush, and her friend. What were they talking about?

--

"Smashing game, huh?" Sirius asked. "Prongs was on fire out there, eh, Lily?"

Lily glanced at him and nodded in what she hoped was an indifferent manner.

"Well, I must be off to congratulate the MVP and get the common room ready for an infamous Marauder party." Sirius said. "You two in? Oh, wait, I forgot. The ickle redhead prefect doesn't do parties. What's the matter Evans? Scared to let down your hair and mingle with the commoners?" Sirius asked, a teasing tone lacing his otherwise hurtful insinuations.

Lily gave him a look of disdain. "No," she replied, trying to sound sophisticated, yet failing miserably. "Just because the idea of getting ridiculously inebriated and writhing on a dance floor holds little interest for me, doesn't mean I'm stuck up."

"I didn't say you were stuck up, Evans, I implied it. I mean, I doubt you could even do one shot, you'd be a bore at a party anyway. Now, if you'll excuse me…" Sirius said, knowing Lily Evans was in the flesh unable to turn down a dare.

"As if I care what you think! I could so! I just don't… want to, is all" Lily added lamely.

"Uhhuh, "Sirius said, his tone bored but his eyes calculating. "I'll believe that when I see it. See ya, ladies…"

Making to walk away, he could almost time the exact second the redhead fell into his trap.

"You know what, Black? I could out drink you any day of the week!"

Bingo, Sirius thought.

Smiling at her, he said, "Good, so I'll see you in the common room tonight, 10 sharp? Oh, and Evans, be prepared to eat your words."

Lily watched him walk away. Oh, fuck. Had she just done what she thought she just did?

Marlene stared at her, wide-eyed.

Christ, what now?

--

Marlene's eye twitched. Catching Lily's gaze, she let out a rather unladylike snort. Before she could control herself, she was gasping for air, bent over, and holding onto Lily's sleeve for support.

Lily stared down at her mirthful friend.

Ohmygosh, she thought, that did NOT just happen.

"Omygosh," she voiced, "I did not just challenge Sirius 'I can shoot firewhiskey in my sleep' Black to a drinking game! Shut up Mar!"

Marlene attempted to restrain herself, but the look of terror on Lily's face sent her into another spiel of laughter.

Eventually laughing her fill, she straightened up and looked at her companion.

"Look, Lils," she began, "It will be okay. So you'll embarrass yourself for once, but I am sure—"

Except before Marlene could continue to console her friend, she noticed a change in Lily's demeanour. Lily raised her head, her eyes sparkled, and she had a small smile on her face.

Uh oh.

Marlene knew that look. That was Lily's 'I've-got-a-brill-plan-that-no-one-can-mess-up-and-you-yes-YOU-Marlene-are-going-to-help-me!' look. Shite.

"Woah," Marlene said slowly, backing away gradually, "No. Whatever is going through your pretty little head right now is going to backfire. No way. No Lily!"

Lily's eyes widened, giving her an endearing puppy-dog quality that could melt the iciest resistance.

"No Lily! They are the Marauders! What have we learned about screwing with them, eh? No!"

Lily's lip quivered.

Marlene let out an aggravated sigh.

"Ughhh! Fine!" She yelled, cursing Lily's absurdly convincing puppy-dog eyes.

Lily whooped, and grabbed her friend in a hug.

"Great!" she said. "You won't regret this! We'll show those bleeding Marauders who NOT to mess with!"

Marlene gave her friend a small smile. She could never say no to her, and she was fairly certain from the devilish glare in Lily's eyes that her plan, if not at least advisable, would be entertaining.

--

"The library, Lily? THE LIBRARY?" Marlene grated out. "Your oh-so-brilliant plan commences in the library? Why am I not surprised…"

Lily sent her friend a patronizing look. "You know what, McKinnon, you always doubt me, but have I ever let you down?"

Marlene smiled. "Well, there was that one time when—"

"Shhh!" Lily said, not wanting to know what her friend referred to. "Stop yelling. Do you want to get us kicked out?" She stared at her friend. "Don't answer that."

The two girls giggled.

"Anyway, oh-great-book-loving-one," Marlene said, "What's the big plan, and why do you need me if it's going down on your territory?"

Lily waved at the librarian as the two girls passed the front desk and answered, "Well, dearest, I know what book I need, but it's in the Restricted Section."

Marlene's eyes bugged.

"Lily! You know how much trouble kids get for going in there! Is that REALLY worth kicking Black's well-formed bottom?"

"Honestly, Mar," Lily said, " Don't worry about it. Now, do you want to be Pince's distraction, or the book-getter, hmmmmm?"

Marlene gave Lily a look and turned, grumbling, off to find the librarian and distract her with a bunch of asinine questions.

Lily smiled at her retreating friend.

Looking around, she was glad that the library was deserted. It seemed that quidditch cleared out the bookworms faster that a blow-out at Flourish and Blott's.

Walking slowly to the Restricted Section, she casually looked around for any witnesses, and then quickly ducked into the section. She knew the book she was looking for; she had seen it last time she had clandestinely snuck into the Restricted Section. She just needed to find it…

Ah ha, there it was, her life-saving tome, _So you've gotten yourself into a stupid situation? A collection of Potions for the inept and idiotic. _Although the title was rather rude, Lily had seen a potion for sustained sobriety the last time she had leafed through the book…

Eureka, page 59. Lily started copying the instructions on a spare piece of paper. It looked simple enough, just rather painstaking. It only took 2 hours, yet it needed constant supervision. Good, it seemed she had access to all the ingredients…

"But Mrs. Pince!" Lily heard her friend's voice call out, laced with desperation, "I'm still not sure about library protocol! Please explain the—umm..—quiet rule to me again!"

Shit! Lily scribbled faster, knowing Marlene was at the end of her ropes. Honestly, she thought, the quiet rule? She was definitely going to have to talk to Marlene about her untruths…

Hastily finishing her list of ingredients and instructions, she shoved the book back in its place, dashed out of the Restricted Section, and motioned to Marlene to follow.

Marlene, seeing her friend _finally _exit her hiding spot, said cheerfully, " Oh, RIGHT! Silence because of the students trying to work! Now I understand! Thanks, Pince!" Marlene ran after her friend, leaving a severely disgruntled librarian in her wake.

The girls exchanged high fives and rushed of to the dungeons to brew the potion, each feeling a growing satisfaction, knowing they were going to show up the Marauders in a few hours. Life was good.

--

But then again, maybe not. Although the girls were unaware of it at the time, their plan had already encountered a glitch, for in Lily's haste to finish her list of instructions; she had forgotten to check the warnings at the bottom of the page.

_Said potion, although simple in theory, manipulates the body's reactions, messing with hormones and chemicals in the brain. Even though the drinker will be less susceptible to intoxication, it should be known that the drinker will experience a more acute yearning for food, merriment, and most commonly, sexual fulfilment. Extreme caution is recommended, especially in adolescents. Because of their already fluctuating hormones, they will experience severe sexual cravings and needs. Again, use with caution!_

Oh, bugger.

--

Lily sat beside a cauldron. Sweat was dripping down from her brow because of the high heat, yet she took no notice. The potion had just turned the required shade of yellow. Showtime.

"Marlene," Lily said to her friend, sitting two seats away, looking adequately disgusted at the smell permeating from the cauldron, "Pass me those glasses, it should be ready."

"Ready, perhaps," Marlene said, handing her the glasses, " But drinkable? No."

Lily gave her companion a mock glare. "Do you want to beat these jumped up boys, or not, McKinnon?"

Marlene smiled at her friend, taking the glass of brew Lily had ladled for her. "Need you even ask?"

The two girls chinked their glasses, winked at each other, and downed their portions. Shuddering and spluttering, they forced themselves to swallow the mixture.

"Wha!" Marlene exclaimed, "Even firewhiskey couldn't have tasted that bad!"

"Ughhhhh…." Lily groaned, "At least it's done. Feel anything? I didn't have time to check the effects, we'll probably only feel a slight tingling, or maybe nausea, or something."

Marlene gave her friend an incredulous glare. "You didn't check the effects? Are you crazy! This was from the Restricted Section!"

"Oh, calm down, Mar," Lily said, "It will be fine, I just—Whoa…" Lily said, slowly wavering on the spot. "Do you—do you, feel that?" she asked, running her hand over her face.

"Yeah," Marlene answered. "Wow."

That pretty much summed it up. Both girls' senses were assaulted with awareness. This was neither tingling nor nausea. If either of the girls had had any experience with the sexual awareness, they would have immediately recognized the sensation coursing through their veins and pooling between their legs. But, as fate would have it, they didn't. In fact, both girls simply felt… good, in the truest sense of the word.

Now, it is well known that both girls were very beautiful in their own way, yet it is important to note that they did not see their own appeal. This lack of awareness had numerous consequences, the most important being that neither girl carried herself with confidence nor self-assurance, but no more.

Straightening up, the girls locked eyes and smiled at each other. If they had not felt so consumed by their newfound feelings, they would have noticed the change of demeanour in the other. Each girl had her head held high, her back straight, and her smile dazzling. Without having to confirm their thoughts with words, the two girls laced arms and headed of to their dorm (after Lily cleaned up the cauldron with a quick incantation).

Lily and Marlene walked with each other towards Gryffindor tower, revelling in a new sense of freedom. Gone were their feelings of self-consciousness, their hang-ups and worries. In their place, were two very secure, alluring women with sex on the mind: a very, very sensual combination.

They were talking amongst themselves when they felt a number of eyes on them. The two glanced up and saw a group of boys. It was the Ravenclaw quidditch team. They seemed to be on their way to the pitch, maybe to have a practise in place of the party they would have been having had they won the match.

The two girls looked them straight in the eyes, and gave them charming winks.

"Great game today, Baldwin," Lily said, "You seemed to be in _impeccable _shape out there."

"Mmhmm…" Marlene agreed, "Excellent form, dead right sexy."

They boys' eyes popped. The two girls in front of them were –although dead sexy themselves—were known for their reclusiveness. Never before had they seen them flirt with a boy, let alone call them sexy!

The girls smiled at the boys' looks of stupefaction. Walking off, Lily looked behind, tossed her hair, and gave the team captain a smile that would fell the most standoffish of men. Had they turned around again, they would have seen the boys lean around the corner to watch the girls walk away, their shapely hips swaying with magnetism.

The two girls were still chuckling to themselves, revelling in their newfound power, as they let themselves into the tower. It seemed that the party had started earlier than anticipated. Music was blasting, people were macking, and firewhiskey was pouring.

As the girls headed towards their dormitories (they wanted to get into something a little more – ah—_comfortable_), they heard a voice call their names. Turning around, they saw the Marauders gathered around a table with numerous bottles of firewhiskey and an innumerable amount of girls vying for their attention.

"Evans!" Black called out again, "I'm still waiting for you to trounce me with your shooting abilities. What, scared to lose?"

Lily gave him a stunning smile, and said throatily, "Keep your pants on Black, I have to go change first."

"Yeah, Black," Marlene said, an almost feral glint in her eye, "We'll be down in a sec. You should probably use said time to finish your pride-trip, 'cause in a couple of minutes, it's going to be crushed by a couple of girls."

Sirius raised his eyebrows at Marlene's husky tone. Wow, he thought. Something was different, and he wasn't the only person in the room to notice. The two girls had walked in as if they owned the place, and every set of eyes had followed their journey from one side of the room to the other. The guys immediately sensed new prey, their eyes locked on the girls' swinging hips and enticing lips. The girls, on the other hand, seemed discomfited, aware of a new predator on the scene. No matter who you were, you were conscious of a new angle in the mix, in the form of Lily Evans and Marlene McKinnon.

James Potter was no different.

Even under normal circumstances, he was aware of Lily Evans, but he now felt something entirely new radiating off her—sex kitten. He was quite a connoisseur of this type of thing, and the redhead in front of him was all but dripping it. Also, instead of the usual look of disdain she always threw his way, her eyes raked over him with a completely different motive. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

She noticed.

Giving him a sexy wink, she turned back to Black (who was looking at Marlene like a dog with a bone). "I'm serious, Black," she said, "about keeping your pants on. Everyone knows you seem to have problems with remaining in said piece of clothing. I'll be down in a minute. Do try to desist from fucking a random fangirl until I have effectively trounced you."

The room gasped, but the girls simply laughed and mounted the stairs to their dorm, leaving a very hot and bothered group of boys behind them.

"Whoa." Sirius said.

"Yeah," James agreed.

"Jesus," Remus chimed in.

"Fuck…" All three boys grated out at once, trying to get a hold of their libertinous libidos.

--

The girls entered their dorm. They had laid out clothes for the party earlier, yet that had been before they had ingested the potion. Now, their choices seemed boring and unexciting. Rooting though their wardrobes at alarming rates, they eventually found something they deemed suitable for each other. Throwing it on, brushing their hair and applying a little make-up, they headed back downstairs, but not before spraying some perfume in a few choice areas.

Giving each other a high five, they strolled down the staircase, entered the party, and sauntered up to the table and group of couches the Marauders had commandeered.

Lily circled the couch and came to the free spot next to James. Smoothing her skirt down, she fell into a graceful tangle of limbs beside him. Marlene, doing the same thing between Sirius and Remus, looked at the collection of shot glasses on the table. It seemed there were dozens, enough to hold quite a large amount of firewhiskey. Perfect.

--

James gulped when Lily landed next to him with catlike grace. He saw Sirius do the same when Marlene dropped down next to him. When he had heard about Sirius' challenge to Lily, he had been ecstatic. A chance to party with his favourite girl after winning a game of quidditch, did it get any better than that? He had been fantasizing about it all day. What he would say, what he would do… He had imagined that she would be discomfited for she had never been to any of his parties, yet it seems that that assumption was dead wrong; she was in her element.

His eyes travelled up her body. She had no shoes on; his eyes fell onto her graceful ankles, travelled up her creamy legs. She was wearing a jean skirt, but it reached her knees. It was misleading, though, for it had a row of buttons up from the seam, and they were undone. He could see the curve of her inner. So close, he could almost see… Shit, he thought, don't look there. She was smiling at him! Smiling at the direction of his gaze! SMILING! She knew! She knew exactly what she was doing to him! Fuck all, he thought, as he shook his head out of its daze. His eyes came to rest on her face, where he encountered her teasing look. He knew he looked like some Neanderthal staring a luscious piece of meat, yet he didn't care. He wanted her, and he wanted her now.

--

Sirius's eyes were locked on Marlene. She was wearing a relatively low cut top, and her hand was playing with her necklace, stroking it, and caressing it. His eyes locked on the delicious swell of her pert chest above the still decent cut of her top. Fucking A, he was a goner.

--

Lily laughed at the effect she and Marlene were having. Leaning forward, she snapped her fingers in front of Sirius' face. "Hey, loverboy, are you going to eye up my best friend's breasts all night, or are you going to pour?"

The boys gaped at her, Marlene chuckled (and pulled her hair to the other side of her neckline, giving Sirius an enticing glimpse of her slender neck).

Sirius scowled at Lily, blushing. Jesus, Sirius Black did not blush! "Fuck off, Evans," he mumbled, lining up the glasses.

"Oh," Lily answered, "Don't worry, babe, I plan to." She gave James a wink. He almost died.

Picking up her glass, she tipped it back with ease, and downed it like water. Thumping it back on the table, she said, "Alright, lads, let the game begin."

--

Remus stared at Lily as the shot of firewhiskey ran down her slender throat. She neither flinched nor faltered; it was quite a feat, actually. Glancing over, Remus had to stifle a snort of laughter at the awestruck expression on James' face; he looked as if he was a first year glimpsing the Halloween spread for the first time.

Looking over to his other side, he saw Sirius concentrating intently on his task: pouring the firewhiskey and endeavouring not to let his eyes be dragged over to the swells of Marlene's chest. He was failing miserably.

Chuckling to himself, Remus leaned back and prepared for a night full of fun and surprises; he knew this would be one for the books.

--

"Alright, Red," Sirius said, willing his voice not to show his weakness for the scene in front of him, "10 shots each. Now, I don't expect a greenhorn like you to know the rules, so I'll lay 'em out for you. You drink fast, you win fast. I have yet to be beaten and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Now, for my spoils… The winner, that's me, gets a favour from the loser, that's you. Now—"

"You know, Black," Lily interrupted, "You talk big, let's see some action. Frankly, your little pride trip is getting rather tedious."

Not used to being disapproved of by the opposite sex, Sirius' mouth dropped open as the rest of the table laughed.

Remus leaned forward. "Red's right, Padfoot, less talk, more drink. Ready kids?"

The two competitors nodded, picking up their first glass.

Remus snapped his fingers, and the two went to work on their line of shots.

One after another, they downed. Sirius was quite flustered; no one had ever made it past five with him, this girl was already at seven! Shit! He drank faster, knowing his face probably resembled someone's expression who had just swallowed a lemon coated with chilli peppers; he didn't care, this was about honour, god dammit!

Lily smiled to herself as she saw Sirius speed up. She was on her ninth shot. Each one felt like water going done her oesophagus. Last one… She threw it back, turned the glass over, and put it on the table.

She had won.

Sirius spluttered as he realized he had lost.

"Christ!" he swore, smashing his eighth shot glass on the table. His friends laughed at his predicament, knowing this would be gold to bring up next time he got uber cocky.

Lily gave Sirius a friendly smile and a condescending pat on the head. "Maybe next time, sweets," she purred, leaning back into her seat (and also closer to James' side, he gulped, unaware it was intentional).

Sirius gave Lily an aggravated, yet accepting smirk. She had won, fair and square.

"Alright, Red, but we will have to have a rematch at some point in the not-so-distant future."

"Fine, Black, whatever you think will save your wounded pride… Too bad, I bet Mar would have been up to consoling you…" Lily said, giving her friend a sly wink.

"Yeah," Mar agreed, "Too bad. Oh well, I suppose I'll have to go and find another willing boy to keep me company…"

"No!" Sirius yelped a little to loudly, "I mean, uh, no, you keep me company, I fear this defeat has rendered me, err, insecure! You shall have to nurse my tender ego back to its rightful proportions!" And with that dramatic statement, he flung himself into her lap and tossed his arm over his brow, acting like a true thespian.

Marlene laughed at his performance. Stroking his hair, she said, "Well, I suppose I couldn't turn down such a tempting offer!"

Lily laughed at their interlude. Perking up slightly, she turned to James (whom she found staring at her legs with rapt attention). Twisting to his side, she placed one knee over his and rested her hands on the edge of the couch. "James!" she said, laughing inwardly at his expression of delight at her new position. "I adore this song! Please, won't you dance with me?"

"I… what?" he asked stupidly, engrossed in the new angle Lily's position gave him down her shirt, absorbed by the view of her young breasts pushed together, straining against the bra encasing their lush forms.

Lily smiled, and wiggled on his lap, apparently trying to get more comfortable, yet putting James in an awkward position. He moaned as she squirmed on his lap. He was dreaming, that was the only answer, he thought. Yet here he was, sitting in the common room, his dream girl smiling at him, perched on his lap. If he was dreaming, he sure as hell didn't want to wake up. He could smell her, she smelled like… Well, she smelled amazing, and he could see the way the lighting was glinting of her hair, her eyes were shining, her skin was all but glowing… He could almost taste her…. Just a little closer, and he could just—

"James," she repeated, whispering huskily into his ear, sending shivers down his—well, down everywhere, "Dance with me…"

"Yes, yes," he repeated stupidly, allowing her to lead him to the dance floor. Ignoring the pulsing beat around them, they put their arms around each other and danced closely, intimately. She sent him a bone-melting smile, and he felt his heart swell. One of her arms slid up, her hand entwining with his hair, stroking, caressing. The other slid around his collar, her nails softly raking over the delicate skin on the back of his neck: heaven.

She leaned in closer to him when she felt his grip tighten around her. Potion aside, feelings aside, all other nonsense aside; she knew something special was happening. She was in the arms of a gorgeous, funny guy, she was having fun with kids her age, she was living; it felt so… right.

Giving him another smile, she leaned her head against his broad shoulder. The feel of his hands on her body was doing crazy things to her mind. Soon, she was swaying her hips against his, softly. He let out a gasp as he felt her curvy hips press against his middle. Groaning, his hands slid down her form, lightly skimming the soft contours of the small of her back… lower, coming to rest on the curve of her ass.

She smiled up at him, feeling daring. Leaning closer to his ear, she whispered, "Wow, it's so busy in here… Do you want to go for a walk outside?"

"A walk, uh, yeah, alone. That would be great!" His brain would have mentally slapped himself for stumbling over his words if he hadn't been thinking with another anatomical organ.

"I'll go tell Marlene, don't leave without me!" She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before dashing off to find her friend.

Softly rubbing where her lips had touched his cheek, he said to himself, "That is the _last _thing you have to worry about, Lily Evans."

--

Finding Marlene, smiling with satisfaction on the couch with Sirius, she said a quick goodbye. The two looked like they were having quite an intimate conversation. She would have to remember to get the details from Marlene; any conversation that could turn _the _Sirius Black that shade of red had to be worth hearing about.

Jogging back to James, she linked arms with him and led him out the door. Reaching the doors, she allowed her hand to slide down and clasp his. Not saying a word, she led him outside, beneath her favourite tree on the grounds: a weeping willow near the other side of the quidditch pitch. Normally, she came out here to be by herself; no one ever ventured this far from the castle, she was never disturbed. Good thing, too, because she had been relishing planning all the things she would do to this delicious boy the whole way down, no way was she going to let anyone mess with her planned seduction.

Giving him an alluring look, she nodded towards the tree.

"So, um..I—" he said, feeling shy and timid (for one of the first times in his life).

"Shhhh..." Lily whispered, bringing her finger up to his lips. Instead of talking, she bent forward and threaded her fingers through his hair. Bringing her lips up to his slowly, she softly kissed the corner of his mouth. Hearing his deep groan of satisfaction, she felt wetness begin to pool between her legs. Moaning herself, her excitement heightened as his arms tightened around her, dragging her roughly against him, against his arousal.

Yeah, this was going to be great.

--

"I don't believe it!" Sirius exclaimed, shooting Marlene a look of incredulity.

"Well," she replied, a sensual smile gracing her well-formed lips, "Believe it. I, Marlene McKinnon, have never had a boyfriend."

Sirius stared at the beautiful girl in front of him. He couldn't remember when they had started this silly game of never-ever, yet he was certain it had stopped being a mere game a long time ago. It was now a battle between two worthy adversaries. Battling wits, parrying and thrusting (Dammit, Sirius, he thought, don't think about thrusting!) the two were daring each other, playing with each other. And for the first time, Sirius was not sure he would be the victor in his own territory: seduction.

He had never known Marlene very well, she usually kept to herself, yet tonight he had caught a glimpse of the alluring, sexy, witty, woman that she normally endeavoured to keep hidden; he was entranced.

"Alright, loverboy," she said, taking another shot, "Your turn."

Shaking himself out of his Marlene-induced stupor, he thought for a second and said, "Never ever have I… skipped a party in favour of studying in the library."

Laughing at his cunning, Marlene picked up the last shot and downed it. Smiling at Sirius, she placed the glass on the table and reclined on the couch, lazily stretching her legs over his lap.

Reaching down, Sirius let his hand run over her smooth limb, relishing both the softness of her skin and the way her eyelids drooped in appreciation of his skill.

"Mmm…." She moaned, letting him know how stimulating she found his touch, "So, Black, if I remember correctly, I recall that you owe my friend a favour… What with you losing so abysmally to her and all."

Sirius gave her a mock glare for reminding him of his loss. Instead of returning it, she sent him a stunning smile. His insides actually quaked. Fucking hell, he was a goner.

"I suppose I do, not that that concerns you, of course," he said, cocking his head to the side.

"Of course," she repeated, smiling to herself, thinking about all the things she could get Lily to make him do…

"Well, anyway, that was the last shot," Sirius said, mischief filling his eyes, "It seems we'll have to start paying with something else…"

Marlene gave him a pointed look. Sitting up, she leaned into him, and whispered in his ear, "Why, Mister Black, _whatever _could you mean?"

Smiling ferally, he leaned in and brushed his lips softly against hers, relishing in her quick intake of air and soft moan.

Marlene gasped when she first felt his lips on hers. Never before had she been kissed, but her shyness was quickly drowned out by a new wave of desire, assaulting her senses and boggling her mind. Timidly at first, she parted her lips and returned his kiss. As her need increased, so did her forwardness, and soon the couple was engaged in a sweltering hot kiss, oblivious to everyone else in the room.

Sirius almost lost his mind when she responded with such passion. They moved together perfectly, like something out of a disgustingly ideal chick-flick.

Flipping Marlene over, Sirius laid her beneath him on the couch. Giving Sirius a breathtaking smirk, she reached up and pulled him towards her lips, running her fingers through his silky hair.

Sirius was dazed by her enthusiasm; her ardour was doing crazy things to his libido. Fuck, he thought, she's so stunning, I want her here, now.

Had Sirius been in his right mind (the mind that was not clouded with lust and desire), he would have seen that the situation was definitely bizarre. The girl beneath him, usually reserved and quiet, was acting the wanton, revelling in their newfound chemistry. He neither questioned nor challenged this out-of-character behaviour, rather, he briefly sent thanks heavenward and delved deeper into her mouth.

Marlene was in paradise. Everything about Sirius was intoxicating, even when not under the thrall of a powerful aphrodisiac. The way he smelled, tasted, looked, and moved. The way his fingers drew lazy circles on her thigh, teasing her, playing with her senses, was making her lose herself in the moment.

It was like a drugging stupor had descended on her. Everything he was doing to her made her feel an energy current coursing through her veins. He was a drug, a hallucinogen. She felt that she was no longer a boring bookworm, a dreary nobody,. She was Marlene McKinnon, and she was making Sirius Black, _the _Sirius Black, moan against her lips.

Breaking off from her lips, Sirius dragged his tongue down her neck, nibbling and nipping at her responsive flesh. Her eyes closed as he reached her collarbone, she moaned and arched her back, pressing her thighs against him. He let out a low growl at finding one of her sensitive spots, going to work on it with skillful vigour.

As her desire mounted, she began moving her hips against his, going at a slow, agonizing pace. He groaned appreciatively at the friction, realizing he would soon crack and take her here in front of everyone if they didn't move to a more suitable location.

Marlene sensed his impatience, it thrilled her to no end; however, she could not ignore the niggling suspicion in the back of her mind that something was wrong. Something was… different… She felt odd, like she was… well, she couldn't explain it. Trying to ignore the feelings she was experiencing, she attempted to concentrate on Sirius' hands and lips on her body.

Sirius lifted his eyes to Marlene's face. "Wanna see what my bed looks like?" he asked, a rakish smile on his face. Instead of the look of desire he had thought would come with that remark, he saw something else shoot through her eyes, what was it… confusion? Uncertainty? No, no, he told himself, she wants this as much as I do… Right?

Marlene looked up at him. His last phrase shook her out of the last of her stupor. For the last little while, she had felt the fog lifting from her senses, although she had tried to hold onto it. Now, she saw what an awkward situation she was in. Jesus! She was under Sirius Black, _the _Sirius Black, and they had been devouring each other's tonsils for the last half hour! She could remember everything… She had been in control of herself… At least, she thought she had.

Sirius saw the sudden change in Marlene's body language. Too fast, okay, he could slow down. "Well, I could—"

Marlene suddenly pushed against him, catching him off guard. Rolling out from underneath him, she jumped up as though she had been electrocuted.

"I, uh, I have to—uh, yeah." Mumbling off incoherently, she raced out of the common room, her face flaming.

Sirius recovered from his daze and went to run after her, but he felt a strong grip enclose his arm. Glancing up, he saw Remus. Giving him a puzzled look, he saw Remus shake his head.

"Don't follow her, she needs some time alone. She will understand if you give it time." Remus said, his words cryptic.

Sirius looked to the portrait hole, "Yeah, but shouldn't I, you know…" he looked back to Remus, and trailed off. He trusted Remus, and if he thought that he shouldn't go, then he wouldn't. Casting one last glance at the portrait hole, he told his friend he would call it a night. Climbing the stairs to his room, he could still feel the way her lips made his body burn and ache as it never had before...

--

Marlene ran down the hallway, not sure where she was headed. What the bloody hell had happened? Why had she acted like that? Yeah, she had had some alcohol, but the potion was supposed to—oh, fuck, it must have been the potion!

Turning around, she ran to the Library, neither caring that it was closed nor that she needed to get into the Restricted Section.

Finally reaching her destination, she leaned against the door to catch her breath but tripped through the entrance… They must not even lock the door at night! Smiling at her good luck, she quickly made her way to the Potions' section of the restricted area. Fuck, fuck, fuck… Lily had told her the author… What was her name? Fuck…. Dammit… Oh, right! Demeter Fairbrew, the famous alchemist! Blessing Lily's need to share seemingly meaningless information, Marlene quickly pulled out the only book by said author. She found the sobriety potion and started reading. As her eyes scanned the page, they widened with incredulity.

_Said potion, although simple in theory, manipulates the body's reactions, messing with hormones and chemicals in the brain. Even though the drinker will be less susceptible to intoxication, it should be known that the drinker will experience a more acute yearning for food, merriment, and most commonly, sexual fulfilment. Extreme caution is recommended, especially in adolescents. Because of their already fluctuating hormones, they will experience severe sexual cravings and needs. Again, use with caution!_

_**Remember, the more alcohol the drinker ingests, the more pronounced the side effects will be.**_

Shit! Marlene thought, Lily drank mountains more than I did!

Shoving the book back in its place, Marlene flew out of the Library as though she had hell on her heels.

She had to find Lily before she did something she would forever regret!

--

James moaned as Lily blew softly into his ear and grinded up against him. James was unsure of how they had gotten into this precarious position, but he'd be damned if anything was going to get them out of it. He and Lily had tumbled to the ground beneath the tree; she was on top of him, making his insides shudder with lust. Smiling devilishly, she leaned closer to his lips and hovered over them with her own, her eyes staring laughingly into his. He was quite sure his expression was one of idiotic pleasure, his mind not able to process that his long-time crush was balanced on top of him, making him twitch with desire.

Losing control, he flipped her over and attacked her lips with passionate need, causing her to let out a shocked shriek followed by an approving moan. Running her fingers through his soft hair, she pulled his head closer and returned his fervour with her whole body.

Breaking off contact reluctantly, James stared into Lily's ardour-dazed eyes. Breathing heavily he lifted his body off hers slightly so he could run a quidditch callused hand down her side, feeling her supple leg as it wrapped around his waist.

"Why are you… Why… do you…" James tried to form a coherent thought, he tried to ask her why she had turned a complete 180 in her feelings for him, but his lust-crazed mind refused to function properly, probably distracted by the way Lily was rubbing her centre against his, all but begging for his touch.

"Shhhhh…"Lily replied, trying to make him understand. "I want you… I want you, James. Please, James…I want you."

James rolled his eyes heavenward, silently thanking a nameless deity for finally getting to hear the words he would have given his heart to hear from the most perfect pair of lips he had ever seen. Lily's lips.

His hand slid down her side, over her round breast, down her flat stomach, over her curvy hip, coming to rest on her silky leg, bringing it closer to him, making their bodies touch intimately. The two teenagers let out simultaneous groans as they started to move against each other, the friction teasing, not nearly enough to satisfy either of them. With knowing ability, James reached under Lily's shirt and unclasped her bra, his hands sliding over the full mounds of her chest, relishing their softness.

Lily let out a moan at this new attention. Her body felt like it was on fire, never before had she burned like this, her skin tinged with pink. Wanting James to feel this exquisite burning as well, she slid her hands under his shirt, smoothing her hands over his skin, her fingers tracing the contours of his hard muscles. His body was so different than hers. So hard, so strong, not to mention…. aroused. Savouring the feel of his weight on top of her, Lily tenderly traced the dip of James' spine, eliciting a deep groan from him.

James and Lily's eyes connected. They both knew what would happen next. James allowed his hand to slide over the waistband of her skirt, his finger lingering on her zipper, slowly sliding it down.

--

Marlene flew through the halls, either not caring or not realizing that the caretaker, or worse, Peeves or the Bloody Baron, would probably reprimand her. Quickly reaching the doors, she hurdled through them, whirling her arms frantically, trying to decide which direction to take first. After wasting time checking down by the lake, Marlene slapped herself for forgetting to use her magic. Pulling out her wand, she thought about which spell to use. Mentally apologizing to Lily, she muttered, "_Accio_ one of Lily's hairs." Painful, perhaps, but effective in a bind.

Marlene waited for a bright red hair to come zooming her way and disclose her friend's location. After a few seconds, it zoomed towards her and fell into her outstretched palm. It came from the direction of the quidditch pitch, Marlene immediately knew where her friend was. Of course, under the weeping willow! Running as fast as her feet would carry her, she rocketed towards the tree.

Nearing it, she heard definite macking sounds: heavy breathing, moaning, and panting. Fuck, she thought to herself, this is going to be awkward. Deciding that a little awkwardness was worth way less than saving her friend from an awfully strange situation, she rounded the tree.

Oh god, how was she going to break this up… They were writhing on top of each other, each one battling for dominance. They hadn't even heard her hurried footsteps or her panting gulps of air from her jog.

Without thinking, she picked up a small stone and threw it near them. Nothing.

Not really knowing what to do, and feeling more awkward each second, she let out a loud cough. Again, nothing… Jesus, they were in their own universe. Feeling frustrated, she resigned herself to the fact that this was going to be a tough job, but someone had to do it. Rolling up her sleeves, she held out her wand, not really sure what to do with it. Saying the first spell that came to mind, she muttered "_Immobulus_." Just as James' hand was undoing Lily's zipper, it stopped in mid-action, along with all of their other body parts.

Marlene almost laughed at the scene before her: a tableau of teenage hormones and lust.

Still chuckling at the odd predicament she found herself in, she muttered another spell ("_Mobilicorpus_"). Lily's body unentwined with James' and rose in the air, her head bobbing as her body dangled. Mentally patting her back because she had left her dorm window open to air out her roommates fondness for over applying perfume, she led Lily's body back to the castle and through the window to her dorm, all the while trying to figure out what to do with Potter. She couldn't very well leave him here, but she would rather eat a horklump than face a certain black-haired Marauder.

Walking back to the castle, a hovering Potter floating behind her, she made a decision. Nearing the portrait hole, she leaned her ear against the picture. No music, it seemed the party died down without the messy-haired quidditch player to stir things up. Quietly saying the password, she walked into the common room, bringing James with her. Clearing a couch off, she laid his body down on it, buttoning his shirt up and wiping the remnants of Lily's lip-gloss of his mouth. Placing a bottle of firewhiskey in his arms, she turned to leave and attend to her friend. Suddenly inspired, she turned back around muttered a quick _Obliviate._

Smiling at her genius, she jogged up the stairs, ready to face one pissed of Lily. Oh well, she would thank her for it in the morning… Right?

--

Lily stared at her friend.

"Oh god…." She moaned, as she sunk lower in her bed.

The light from the open curtains was blinding her almost as much as her friend's cheery smile. Lily groaned into her hands as her friend recounted her exploits last night. Marlene was trying to contain her laugh at Lily's horrified expression, but Lily saw nothing amusing with her situation.

Lily had woken up on top of her covers, finding herself in an extremely short skirt and an excessive amount of mascara caked on her already naturally long eyelashes. Not remembering her misadventures from last night, she had sat up in bed to find herself with a massive hangover: her head pounding and her tongue carpeted.

Lily flung herself back on her pillow, desperately trying to believe that Marlene was pulling her leg and that she hadn't thrown herself at Potter wearing a skirt that showed her knickers and enough cleavage to secure her a place in a _Hustler._ Fuck…

Marlene smiled at her friend. "Lils, think of it this way," she said, trying to cheer her up, "I obliviated him, he won't remember a thing. Sirius on the other hand…" she trailed off, her eyes telling Lily just how uncomfortable she was with her actions.

"Oh, god, Mar, I'm so sorry! I made you take the potion, this is disastrous…" Lily moaned, sitting up and putting her hand on her friend's shoulder.

Marlene attempted a carefree smile. "Don't worry about it, Lils, I decided to take the potion and, well, it wasn't so bad…" She said, a devilish gleam in her eyes.

Lily let out a girlish shriek. "Woah, Something you're not telling me, McKinnon?"

Marlene smiled, "Well, it doesn't mean anything, but I may have gotten my first snog from a ridiculously handsome Marauder…"

Lily laughed at her friend's take on the situation, "Yeah, I hear that Pettigrew has lips like a god."

Marlene laughed at her friend and threw a pillow at her head. "Oi, quiet you!"

Giggling to themselves, they tossed themselves back on the pillows as they quieted down. The two girls silenced down and started to think about what would happen next.

"So…" Lily said, "Will this, you know, change anything?"

Marlene shrugged her delicate shoulders… "Dunno… Don't think so, I mean, they're not exactly boyfriend material, even if they were, Sirius and I would go together like feathers and elephants…"

Lily chuckled at her friend's irrelevant metaphor. Nodding softly, she turned over and settled back into her pillow. Throwing her arm over her friend, she decided another hour of sleep wouldn't hurt… Making up her mind that the Marauders probably didn't even remember, let alone care about their promiscuity, she shut her eyes and fell asleep again.

--

Sirius and Remus looked at their friend who was sleeping on the couch, his long legs hanging off the end of the sofa.

The two shared a look, wordlessly deciding how they would wake him. Taking out their wands, they directed a water charm, spraying their messy haired friend with freezing water.

Jumping up and flailing wildly, James quickly realized who the culprits were. Giving them a death glare, he swiftly realized he was not in his bed. Also, he was still in his clothes from the party last night.

"Bloody hell," he said, "What the fuck happened last night? I can't remember anything after getting back from the pitch…" He rubbed his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

Sirius' eyebrows shot up upon realizing his friend couldn't remember last night's event. Even under normal circumstances, Prongs could hold his liquor and Sirius couldn't even remember him drinking all that much last night.

"Uh, Prongs," Remus said, his eyes twinkling at his friend's apparent amnesia, "What do you remember, with special emphasis on a certain gorgeous redhead you're madly in love with."

James shot his friend a glare at the use of the 'L' word but didn't deny the accusation. "What do you mean? What does Lily have to do with this?" he asked, a hint of anxiety lacing his voice, scared he had made a drunken fool of himself in front of Lily.

"Oh, nothing," Sirius said, his voice dripping with sarcasm and mirth, "just the fact that she was all over you last night, what with you two wandering off outside last night to have hot kinky sex under the stars…"

James' eyes bulged. "What! You fucking bugger, don't joke about something like that! There's no way I would forget about something like that, even if I was trashed. Which I wasn't, might I add."

Sirius put up his hands. "Don't kill the messenger, I'm only reporting what I saw and what I saw was a vivacious ginger seducing you like a little schoolboy last night."

James glanced frantically at Remus, who only nodded at Sirius crude, yet accurate description.

James stared at his lycanthropic friend. James knew Remus would never lie to him about something this monumental. Sirius must be telling the truth, Lily must really like him!

A grin slowly enveloped James' whole face. He beamed at his friends. Throwing a celebratory fist in the air, he bounded up the stairs and started getting ready. He didn't know what was going to happen now, but he sure as hell wasn't letting anything get in the way of his and Lily's newfound camaraderie.

--

James piled some pasta on his plate and dug in voraciously. He kept glancing up at the doors, waiting for Lily to come down. He had no idea what to say to her, but he needed to say something. He needed to tell her how he felt. He needed—

"Prongs!" Sirius yelled at him, waving a fork in front of his eyes.

""Jesus, Pads," he grumbled, shoving the fork away, "You're going to take my eye out and I'm not sure Lils likes the whole eye patch look."

Remus chuckled at his friend. Ever since he had found out about the events last night, Lily was all James could talk about.

"As I was saying before Sirius attacked you with his cutlery," Remus said, "I was going to ask, do you have a plan for this romance? Lily isn't some brain-dead chit willing to fall for any dribble you spit out."

James mock glared at him. "No need to worry, Casanova, I know what I'm doing." He hoped he sounded more self-assured than he felt.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Speaking of ladies, you weren't the only one romancing a usually untouchable female last night. Isn't that right, Padfoot?"

Sirius glared at his friend, but his eyes still twinkled. "I don't know what you're talking about wolf boy."

Remus smiled at his friend, knowing there had to be something special there if Sirius didn't want to talk about Marlene. "Honestly, Pads, I think it's cute, you four could go on double dates and wear matching fanny packs. It'll be great!"

James put the pieces together. "McKinnon? That's great! We—"

Sirius silenced him with his fork again. "Whoa, there's no we, and if the words 'fanny packs' fit into whatever idea you just had, our friendship is over."

James frowned at his friend, but couldn't help his mind from contemplating how well this could work out…

"Yeah," Remus said, "It probably wouldn't work out anyway, what with her ditching you last night and everything."

"She did not ditch me!" Sirius said, his aforementioned fork clattering onto his plate. "She had to leave! Drop it, already."

Remus smiled at his friend's out-of-character outburst, he must really like Marlene. Remus knew there was nothing he would like better than for his two best friends to finally find two girls they could be happy with.

About to make a smartass comment on Sirius' obvious attachment to the girl, Remus glanced over to James, but found his eyes glued on the doors. Remus saw Lily and Marlene walk into the Hall and head towards the other end of the table. Next thing Remus knew, his messy haired friend was standing up, ready to yell at the girls to join them.

Well, at least this lunch wouldn't be boring…


	6. Chapter 6

I own nothing from Harry Potter

--

"Oi! Evans, McKinnon!"

The girls stopped dead in their tracks as the loud, clear voice washed over them. They shared a surprised glance as they heard the Great Hall fall silent while the popular quidditch captain shouted at them across the room.

"We saved two seats!" the voice continued, noticeably quieter now that he didn't have to yell over the racket.

Lily tugged on Marlene's sleeve, pulling them towards the other end of the table, the one they had been moving towards in the first place.

_Just keep walking, just keep moving, _Lily thought to herself.

"Oi! EVANS!" James yelled at her, waving one of his hands in the air and gesturing towards to seats next to them.

Marlene shot her embarrassed friend a look and started pulling Lily towards the boys. After all, James couldn't remember last night, it was Marlene who should be embarrassed around Sirius. Marlene knew this confrontation was likely anyway, why not get it over with quickly so the two girls could go back to their comfortably boring lives…

Lily gave her friend a death glare as they approached the table. Marlene returned it with a look of resignation.

As they drew nearer to the table, they tried to paste looks of detached disinterest on their faces (failing miserably, of course).

James stared up at the blushing redhead as he patted the seat next to him, obviously wanting her to sit there Pretending to not catch the insinuation, she circled the table and took the free seat next to Peter and Sirius. James, misinterpreting her action for playing hard-to-get, smiled at her sassiness and pulled out the bench for Marlene.

The two girls strove for coldness, determined not to be the ones to attempt conversation.

The boys, noticing this lack of prattle, merely smiled and relished the company of two teenage girls who didn't blether on 24/7.

Lily tried to pay attention to the glass of pumpkin juice she was pouring but she couldn't make sense of the look James kept shooting her. Every time her eyes were drawn to his, his face split into a wide grin. Damn him, she thought to herself, he even looks sexy when he's smiling like a madman! Again attempting to ignore him, she set about loading her plate with whatever was close at hand.

Sirius saw the two girls blushing and revelled in their discomfort. Used to girls giving him sly glances and inviting gestures, he found Marlene's uneasiness damn sexy and attractive.

"So, did you girls have fun last night?" he asked with a cheeky grin on his chiselled features, already knowing the answer.

Marlene almost choked on her soup, her composure under great stress from the confident smirk on the boy's face.

Lily mumbled into her glass of pumpkin juice, nodding her head briefly and obviously intending to conclude the conversation.

"Good, good," James said, his face practically beaming, "because _we _had an amazing time."

Lily's eyes shot up to Marlene's. Shit! She thought, I thought he wasn't supposed to remember!

"So," Remus said, trying to ease the girls' anxiety before his friends' gave their new love interests heart palpitations, "What are you girls up to today? We could play some exploding snap or something…"

"Library—" Lily said loudly.

"Forest—" Marlene said at the same time.

The two girls exchanged looks of desperation, each thinking the other one responsible for giving them away.

"Well," Peter said, trying to not laugh at the girls' awkwardness, "Guess that means you two didn't have any concrete plans…"

"Forest—"Lily said, grasping for straws.

"Library—" Marlene said at the same time, wanting to drown her embarrassment in the nearest pitcher of pumpkin juice.

Sirius laughed at the girls attempts to evade their company.

"Come on, McKinnon," he said, his voice smooth and sure, "You seemed to like me well enough last night…Not scared of me, are you? What, worried you'll fall mad in love with me and ravish me in front of the Great Hall?"

Marlene gave him her iciest glare and managed to say, "Puh-lease! I'd sooner fall in love with Slughorn! At least he could brew me a decent hangover potion." The group laughed at her comment.

"Uhhuh," Sirius drawled, "You keep telling yourself that."

"Alright," Marlene said, her voice challenging, "I will, since it's the truth."

Sirius smiled at her, loving the way her eyes lit up when he flouted her. "Really? That wasn't what you were saying on the common room sofa last night… I guess it must be just that you're afraid of my allure…"

Marlene sat up straighter and looked the handsome teenager in the eye. "Look here, Black, I am neither in love with you nor am I scared of you, so just shut up and eat your lunch!"

Yet Sirius only smiled. "Well, you talk big, but I know you're to scared to wager on it, you cute, little coward."

Marlene's eyes narrowed in irritation ('Bingo,' Sirius thought).

Sirius continued, "I bet you couldn't last a few mere weeks around me before falling under my spell."

Lily sent her friend a discreet kick, trying to remind her cohort what happened the last time they accepted a Sirius Black bet.

Her kick went unnoticed.

"Oh, yeah?" Marlene said, "I'll take that bet, it's more likely I'll fall in love with the Sorting hat and run away to Romania with Madame Puddifoot than fall in love with a egotistical cretin like **you**!"

Sirius's eyebrows rose at her passionate exclamation. "Well, Marlene McKinnon, it seems we have a bet, then. Let's see, if I win, well, I don't really need anything other than your undying devotion, and let's be honest, there's no way I'm going to lose, so we don't need terms."

"Cocky bastard!" Lily said vehemently.

James smiled at her expletive and his friend's gamble. If there was one thing he could count on Sirius for, it was to keep things interesting.

Remus grinned at the exchange and, after noticing the girls had stopped eating, smoothly suggesting the group head out under the large birch tree near the lake and play a round of exploding snap euchre.

Marlene scoffed at his suggestion and said, with as much dignity as she could muster, "As much fun as I'm sure that would be, Lupin, I would rather brush my teeth with bobutuber pus than be anywhere near your dismally misguided and nauseatingly repulsive friend. So, If you'll excuse us…"

She made to get up and flounce off while she still had a shred of decorum. She would have managed as well if the strong and well-muscled arm of the 'dismally misguided and nauseatingly repulsive friend' hadn't snuck around her waist and pulled her to his side.

Sirius grinned at Marlene's effort to evade his touch and gave her a sexy wink. "Come McKinnon, are you amnestic, or are my good looks just melting your brain?" Sirius said, his voice sending shivers down Marlene's back.

She stared at him blankly, her eyes questioning his odd words.

He smiled at her expression. "The bet, McKinnon. Remember? The one where you attempt to withstand my seductive wiles, fail miserably, then fall desperately in love with me?"

Marlene rolled her eyes at his reminder. "Come on, Black," she said, "That was said in jest, it was—"

James interrupted Marlene's protest. "No good, Marlene," he said, smiling good-naturedly at the brunette, "Sirius is crazy sticklish about bets, gambles, and stakes. There's no way you're getting out of this one."

Marlene's eyes widened as the implications of this bet sunk in.

"But I—" Marlene started.

"Nope," Remus interjected, "Sorry, Mar, but it looks like you two ladies are stuck with us for the next couple weeks…"

The girls exchanged looks of horror as the boys grinned at their shared gaze of dread.

This was going to get messy…

--

"And that, boys, is how it's done," Lily said, her tone dripping smugness as she laid her winning card on the grass, effectively winning the second game in a row for her and her teammates, Marlene and Peter.

The boys stared gobsmacked as the redhead and her teammates shared a round of high fives. After much cajoling, the lads had finally convinced the girls to join them under the large tree by the lake for the afternoon. Although the boys would hold that it was their dazzling charm and magnetism that swayed the girls into spending the afternoon, all parties were well aware that Lily and Marlene were only there because they did not want to lose the ridiculous bet the boys had led them into accepting. Or, at least that was the main thing keeping them there until the two girls discovered that they possessed superior card skills and could use them to put the boys in their place.

However, far from humbling the boys, their defeat seemed only to spur them to greater heights of competition. Sirius, seeing he had lost for the second time in one day (one loss was already more than he was used to), merely scowled at Marlene, wishing she didn't look so damned attractive there, shuffling the cards and smiling triumphantly.

"Well," Lily said, stretching her arms above her head (unknowingly revealing a few inches of her stomach, much to James' silent delight), " I think your egos have suffered more than enough for one day, so, if you'll excuse me, I have a prefect patrol to get to."

Remus got up and dusted himself off, deciding that copping out of his patrol tonight might not fly, seeing as his partner had spent the day with him and would not likely believe that he was stricken with some sort of contagious illness, or some other excuse he hadn't already used multiple times.

He held his arm out jovially, and couldn't help laughing when she blatantly ignored it.

"See you back at the dorm, tenish?" Lily asked her friend, ignoring Marlene's puppy dog eyes, begging Lily to bring her with her.

Scowling at her ginger-haired friend, Marlene nodded and sent her a glare that assured Lily she would be getting an earful tonight about the idiocy of leaving her friend with a bunch of Marauders.

Sirius yawned and made quite the show of putting his arm around Marlene, who immediately shook it off, much to the amusement of James and Peter.

Leaning forward, she picked up the cards and started shuffling them with the expertise of a card shark. Smiling impishly, she asked, "So… Poker, anyone?"

--

Lily walked ahead of Remus, not really wanting to have to keep up a steady flow of conversation with the too-smart-for-his-own-good Marauder.

Remus smiled at Lily, amused that she thought her short legs could outwalk his long limbs.

"So, Lils," he started, pretending she wasn't trying to avoid his presence, "That must have been some memory charm you put on James last night."

Lily stopped in her tracks and turned around slowly. If he had wanted to surprise her out of her quiet state, he had definitely succeeded.

He stared at her shocked expression and tried not to laugh at her. "So, that _is _what happened. You see, I wasn't sure until your stricken expression confirmed my suspicion."

"Well," Lily said, desperately trying to sound innocent, "It appears your powers of deduction are lacking, I did no such thing."

She looked in his eyes and tried not to let her voice quiver. In reality, she wasn't _really_ lying; after all, she hadn't in fact cast the spell.

"Ahhh," Remus said knowingly, steepling his fingers and smiling at her discomfort, "So it was Marlene, I see, now it all makes sense." Seeing Lily's stricken face, he quickly realized that she was scared he was going to get her friend in trouble.

Remus almost laughed at the irony: one of the school's biggest troublemakers ratting on the saintly bookworm. He raised his hands to waylay her fears. "Honestly, Red, do you really think I would rat on a mere wisp of a girl, not to mention one whom I now consider a friend?"

Lily frowned at Remus use of the word 'friend,' not wanting herself and Marlene associated with all the Marauders 'friends' who all seemed to get replaced on a weekly basis.

Lily opened her mouth to object to his statement when he silenced her with a raised hand. "No matter, Lily, no point in objecting, the boys and I have found that we like you two, and you will soon find out that an adamant Marauder is harder to get rid of than fanged geranium's teeth in your leg."

Lily rolled her eyes at his arrogant persistence and decided not to dignify his comment with a rebuttal.

Remus, noticing the silent treatment, went about provoking an answer out of her.

"So," he began, trying to sound innocent, "did you like kissing James?"

Lily sputtered at his intimate question. "Well! I—that's just! You can't just—!"

Remus smiled at her, liking how easy she was to provoke, knowing he and she would be good friends (just one of those lycanthropic senses, he supposed).

"Well, I think that's a yes," he said, mentally remembering to tell Prongs how much Lily blushed when he mentioned him.

She turned to him, scowling, about to denounce his declaration. However, looking into his amber eyes, she soon realized he would see through her lies, not only because she couldn't even lie to her pillow, but also because he seemed to have the uncanny ability to look right through a person.

Looking to the ground in embarrassment, she said softly, "Well, it wouldn't matter even if I did like, um, well, you know, because it's irrelevant!"

Remus looked puzzled, not quite sure what she was getting at.

"Well," she continued, trying to clarify without dying from embarrassment, "He doesn't you know…"

Remus had no clue where the redhead was going with this. "Uh, Lils, I really don't know what your eluding to."

Lily rolled her eyes, so he was going to make her say it, was he? "What Snape heard him saying about me! Or do you tweekos demean women so often in your little clique that it slipped your mind?"

Remus mentally slapped himself for forgetting the lie that Snape had told. "Look, Lily," he began, not really sure how to make her understand it was simply a big misunderstanding, "He was lying, can't you see? James never said those debasing things about you. For Merlin's sake, I'm half convinced he's actually in love with you!"

Lily gaped at his heartfelt speech, not really comprehending what Remus was saying. Woah, did he just say love?

"What?" Lily said, "That's ridiculous! Snape wouldn't lie about something like this! Besides, we all know your friend has a rather unsavory reputation!"

Remus grimaced, and not for the first time, wished Prongs had been a little more discreet when he had been sowing his wild oats, or whatever it was called. "Lily, you know how James and Sni—er, Snape, fight," Remus said, thinking about the infamous lake incident, " Snape saw an opportunity to hurt James and took it. The entire thing was a fabrication of Snape's demented mind! And as for the… reputation, well, he was never demeaning, or abusive, or uncaring, he just was a teenage boy, doing teenage things with teenage girls. He's grown up since then and I think you've noticed."

Lily blushed and knew he was referring to her behavior at the party. Not sure what to say to Remus' passionate defense of his friend, she started, " Do you honestly want me to believe—"

Remus cut her off. "Lily, I don't expect you to believe anything, I expect you to be rational about this and fairly examine all the sides."

She opened her mouth but couldn't argue with him without seeming foolish.

"Look, Lily," he said, running a hand through his hair and trying to make her see reason. "Why don't you think about it and talk to James about it? I'm sure you'll figure out the truth if you just try to see the situation for what it is."

Lily tried to wrap her mind around what Remus was saying… The pieces fit, but Lily just couldn't let go of her prejudices against the gorgeous quidditch captain.

Making up her mind, she set about stimulating small talk with her partner so she could formulate her plan while patrol dwindled by.

Someone did need to be talked to, but it wasn't James.

Yes, she thought, it looked like a certain greasy haired boy would be getting a visit from the Gryffindor bookworm.

--

Lily wiped a bead of sweat of her forehead as she shot a nervous glance towards Snape. He had his back to her as he measured the correct amount of ground slug to stir into their shared cauldron.

She had attempted to talk to him numerous times over the past week yet she had been unable to track him down most of the time, and when she finally managed to find the boy, he was always surrounded by the rest of the Slytherin motley crew. Seeing the need for drastic measures, Lily had conceived a rather underhanded and dastardly plan. If she did say so herself…

After realizing that Snape was not even going to offer her a polite greeting, let alone an explanation of his part in the fight between her and James, Lily had determined to take his explanation into her own hands. Waiting until the Potions class called for a recipe that they themselves would be testing, she snuck in her own personal vial of veritaserum to lace Snape's drink with. Discretely coating the rim of the glass with the clear substance (she just wanted to hear his version of events, not his deepest secrets…), she offered him a small smile when he came over with a ladle of the concoction they had created.

He didn't return her smile as he poured the thick liquid into their glass. Rather, he sent her a questioning glance and a raised eyebrow as vapor rose from the goblet. Lily almost panicked, thinking Snape had caught on to her scheme, but relaxed once she realized he was silently asking her who would try the potion.

Hoping her face was shining with the glow of innocence, she smiled brightly and shook her head.

"No, you go for it, you did most of the work," Lily said, her voice sounding unnaturally high-pitched to her ears.

Snape nodded slightly and raised the goblet to his thin lips. Swallowing a mouthful, he gave her a nod of what she assumed was affirmation of the Potion's worth.

Lily felt slightly flustered at his lack of speech. How was she supposed to interrogate him slyly if he was so damned broody? Hoping to lull him with unexciting conversation, she nonchalantly asked him how his school year had been so far as she wiped up the counter where they had prepared their brew.

"Nauseatingly boring," he replied, his tone slightly monotonous. "I'm scores ahead of the material and no one offers any competition save you and the revolting Marauding dunces. Not to mention the fact that I am always fending off dungbombs, hexes, and curses"

Snape's eyes widened as he felt his mouth saying things he would not admit out loud for a million galleons.

Lily was also surprised by his admission. She had always thought that he had truly believed his 'mudblood' ideas of inferiority and that he would not have placed her in the same intellectual level as himself (although she knew she was deserving of it).

Snape went to bustle away to Slughorn's desk with a sample of their work, reprimanding himself for his uncharacteristic slip of the tongue.

"Wait!" Lily said, unsure of what to say to make him stay so she could get some answers.

Lily, rather desperate to not waste this opportunity, hastily grabbed on to his wrist and held him there. He slowly looked down at her hand around his limb, then up to her eyes, his own eyes asking her what she needed.

Without thinking, and being in a distressed state, she blurted out her question, "Was what you said about James using me for sex true?" Lily mentally kicked herself, so much for not raising suspicion…

Snape's eyebrows shot up in surprise yet he couldn't stop his mouth from spewing an answer.

"No, I made that up to distance you from Potter. I have wanted to hurt him for the numerous times he has belittled me and made my life hell. He has feelings for you different than he did for the other girls he associates himself with. I saw an opportunity and I took it. He doesn't deserve you."

As Snape's confession tumbled from his lips, he became more and more horrified. Being the potion's connoisseur that he was, he recognized the effects immediately. He shot a look at the redhead. He was half infuriated with her for being so conniving and half impressed by her Slytherinesque deception. He whirled around and made a beeline for the dungeon exit before he could confess any more of his secrets. The whole class started buzzing as he left without permission. All the students wanted to know what had made him leave without a word and what had caused his partner to just stand there, a stunned look gracing her delicate features.

"Everything all right, Miss Evans?" Slughorn boomed, a concerned look on his face.

Startled, Lily turned towards him and forced her face to look calm. "Uh, yes sir. No problem."

Had any other group caused such an interruption in class, Slughorn would have sent them to Dumbledore, but because he held the two in such high esteem, he let them off the hook and told the rest of the students to return to work. Most of the pupils cast one last look at the shaken redhead and returned to their brews, all except one. James Potter. James was looking at Lily's shaken expression and vowed to get Snape for whatever he had done to hurt his Lily.

_--_

Lily ran a shaky hand through her tousled hair as she left the classroom and headed up to meet Marlene for supper. Snape's confession was replaying in her head. Although he had lied, she couldn't bring herself to be angry. She had seen his constant torment at the hands off all the Marauders and she empathized with his suffering.

Lily took a seat at the Gryffindor table. Glancing at the Slytherin table, she saw Snape carefully avoiding her gaze. She bit her lip as she fretted over his reaction. He knew she had used an illegal potion on him, what was he going to do about it? He had never been kind to her before, and she had half expected for him to run to Dumbledore and have her expelled, or something equally nasty. She sat mulling over her situation when James sat down beside her.

Now knowing he was innocent, or at least innocent of Snape's accusations, she offered him a smile as she poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice.

James' insides warmed when Lily smiled at him, and he almost forgot why he had sat down beside her. Shaking his head from its Lily-induced stupor, he looked her in the eye and asked, "What did Snape do to you in Potions?"

Lily jumped at his question, the pitcher of pumpkin juice slipping slightly in her grasp.

"N-n-nothing!" She squeaked out, wondering if the word 'GUILTY' was carved into her forehead.

James frowned at her scared tone, wanting to rip Snape into shreds for doing whatever he had done to warrant such a look of fear in her eyes.

"Listen, Lily," he said, "Don't worry about Snape, I'll tell him to leave you alone."

Lily frowned at his patronizing tone, now aware that James didn't know of her illegal-veritaserum actions. "Look, Potter," she said, "Snape didn't do anything to me, don't—"

Her speech was interrupted when the rest of the Marauders sat down and dug into the food spread out before them.

"So, Lils," Sirius said through a mouthful of chicken, "What did Snivellus say that got your knickers in such a twist in Potions? We'll rough him up for you after dinner."

Lily couldn't believe how obtuse these boys were.

"Black, he didn't do anything," Lily said.

Sirius raised his eyebrows at her somewhat anxious tone, wondering why she was sticking up for such a greasy little creeper. Suddenly it dawned on him, of course! She didn't want her perfect prefect reputation tarnished. Tapping his nose knowingly, he gave her a hearty wink and said with gusto, "Right you are, Lilykins, you didn't know a _single_ thing about our impending Snivvy arse-kicking."

Lily's eyes widened at Sirius' words. "No!" she exclaimed loudly. The boys (and more or less the rest of the hall) were surprised by her volume. Smiling nervously at the heads turning her way, she continued more quietly. "You cant! You can't do anything to him!"

The boys were alarmed by the frantic tone in her voice.

James' eyes narrowed dangerously. "Did he threaten you?" he asked, menace lacing his voice.

Lily gulped. They couldn't hurt Snape, then he would definitely turn her in!

"N-n-o, of course not!" Lily said, with what she hoped was conviction. "It's just… I just… You can't, is all."

James leaned back in his chair, wondering why Lily seemed so desperate to stop them from getting Snivellus back for whatever he had done to her.

Collecting herself, Lily continued more calmly, "Just, please don't, I don't think I could stomach it if he got hurt because of me. Promise you won't do anything?"

James couldn't bear the pleading look in Lily's brilliant eyes. He caved first. "Fine," was all he said, loving the way her face lit up when she smiled brilliantly at his response. His friends' admissions of inaction soon followed his. Lily beamed at them all and grabbed a couple of sandwiches. Seeing as Marlene hadn't come to supper, she must have gone to the forest instead, so Lily wanted to bring her some sustenance (not to mention update her on Snape's admission). Offering a quick goodbye, she jogged of to the entrance to catch up with Marlene.

The boys sat in silence as they contemplated the unpredictable redhead.

Chewing his piece of steak slowly, Remus wondered aloud, "I wonder what he has on her…"

Three heads turned to him, questioning what his vague muttering meant.

"Well," he explained, "She's far to sweet for her own good, but that puppy-dog eye act was not solely out of the goodness of her heart. He has something on her, to keep her quiet. I just wonder what it is."

James' eyes widened as Remus' words sunk in. He whirled around to face Snape, who was bent over his plate, his lank hair obstructing his face. Fucking hell… if James found out that poncy wanker had so much as threatened a hair on Lily's head, a roughing up would be the least of Snivellus' worries.

Sirius, unlike James, just found the insinuation laughable. "Oh, yeah," he said, chuckling to himself, "What with Lily' speed habit, numerous crack-babies, and sociopathic tendencies, she's a veritable goldmine for blackmail."

Remus frowned at his friend's nonchalance, deciding to talk to Lily about it in private.

James' plan was slightly less cerebral. He would find out what Snape was holding over Lily and he would make him pay.

No one, especially not some greasy death eater wannabe, messed with _his_ Lily.

--

Lily laughed as the Giant Squid grabbed the crust in her hand, the remnants of her supper. She and Marlene sat near the lake, languidly lazing under a tree. Rather than cavorting among the various dwellers in the Forbidden Forest, as Lily had previously thought, Lily had found her friend sprawled out beneath her favorite tree. After mischievously attempting to sneak up on her unsuspecting friend (or so Lily thought, in all actuality, she had less nimbleness than an elephant with bells tied to its tusks), Lily got Marlene up to date on the soap-opera that was her life.

"Honestly, Lils," Marlene said, "This could get really messy. Maybe you should just tell the boys about your… misdemeanor. At least then they wouldn't go about pummeling Snape."

Lily shook her head, dismissing her friend's plan. "And give them license to blackmail me for eternity? No thanks, I'll deal with Severus on my own."

Tossing a piece of grass at her friend, Marlene smiled. "Oh, Severus, is it?" she said, "My my, aren't we getting intimate?"

Lily scoffed at her friend's insinuation. " Oh, be quiet, McKinnon. Keep your raging hormones to yourself. Or better yet, go release them on an unsuspecting black-haired Marauder with far too much charm for his own good, since it's obvious you're soooooooo in love with him."

"Touché," Marlene said, her cheeks flaming.

The two girls called an unspoken truce and mutually steered the conversation to neutral ground before finally deciding to head back to their common room.

--

James leaned up against the stone wall of the corridor, waiting for the greasy-haired Slytherin to finally abandon the musty books in the library and head back to his common room.

James had been there for half an hour, contemplating (you guessed it) Lily Evans. The girl was such an enigma. One minute she was ignoring him, the next she was seducing him, and then the next she was berating him like he was some older, over-protective brother! He didn't know how to read her, and that intrigued him even more. Before Lily, girls had been open books. There was no mystery, no unpredictability. Although this seemed like a rather weak excuse to pursue a relationship, James knew that there was more to his attraction to Lily. She was everything he wanted, and he would do everything in his power to foster the bond between them, unstable and strained as it was.

Hearing the shuffle of feet come his way, James came off the wall and stood in the middle of the corridor. He was quite miffed that he would have to break a promise to Lily so soon into their … relationship, yet he knew it was for the best. Lily had such a untainted and naive view of the world, she would never believe that Snape was beyond redemption.

James had seen the horrors of Voldemort and his Death Eaters first hand; he knew that they were cruel and merciless. Also, he knew that Snape was almost certainly going to join their ranks once he was able; he would be a valuable asset, what with his obsessive knowledge about the Dark Arts. Yes, James knew he couldn't allow Snape's disgusting excuse for a person harm Lily in any way.

Snape's footsteps were coming closer, just about to round the corner.

"Hello, Snivellus." James said, his voice deceptively calm.

Snape reacted with surprising agility and speed, yet not quick enough. The wand he had been reaching for was soon _accio_ed into James' outstretched palm.

"Do you know why I'm here?" James continued, his tone still misleadingly amiable.

Snape knew.

He gave a slight inclination of his head. He couldn't help but smile slightly. He was used to Potter tripping him, humiliating him, and debasing him. This was a new tactic. This meant Potter was backed into a metaphorical corner. Severus knew that Potter's vision was clouded by his feelings for the redhead and that this meeting was, in James' mistaken mind, for her protection.

James sneered at Snape's slight smile. "Look, Snivelly, I suggest you leave her alone and bury your nose in one of your numerous Dark Arts books, because—"

"Because what, Potter?" Severus interrupted.

James just glared at him, letting his stare tell the boy in front of him the consequences of messing with Lily.

Suddenly, something in Snape's mind clicked. Raising his eyebrows, he said, "Oh, she didn't tell you, did she?"

A muscle in James' throat ticked.

Snape's smile grew. "Oh, this is too good." Snape said, chuckling to himself, "Knight in shining armor Potter rushes to defend the precious maiden from the big bad snake and he doesn't even know why! Well, this is just too funny."

James' control broke. Shoving Snape up against a wall, he grabbed his shoulders and stared into his eyes. "You listen to me, Snivellus.—"

But James' threat never made it past his lips. Instead of Snape's eyes widening in fear, they were directed behind him, a look of amusement gracing his pointy features.

James turned slowly, thinking he would be looking into the eyes of a bunch of Death Eater wannabe Slytherins.

It was worse.

Much worse.

It was Lily.

And she looked angry.

James let go of Snape's robes and he sunk a few inches till his feet touched the floor.

James felt panic race through his veins.

"Lily, I didn't mean to—"

Her look of anger silenced his excuse.

"You promised me." She whispered. "You promised me," she repeated, her tone dripping anger, and worse (in James' opinion), hurt and betrayal.

She turned quickly, deciding to take a longer route to the tower.

James' eyes flickered between Snape's look of satisfaction and Marlene's look of horror.

James went to Marlene, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Look, I didn't mean—"

Marlene tore her arm from his grasp. Sending a look of disdain his way, she turned and followed her friend, leaving James standing there, knowing he had just personally shattered the shaky bond that had once rested unsteadily between him and Lily.

What the bleeding fuck was he supposed to do now?

--

James glared at Snape across the crowded Potions' classroom. As had been the case for the last month, Snape sent him a vindictive smile that vanished the second Lily looked up from their cauldron and said something to Snape, causing them both to laugh. James' temper simmered as hot as his cauldron when he saw Snape smile at Lily, looking as though he genuinely liked her. This was, of course, ludicrous, or at least James believed so, for he knew that Snape wasn't capable of liking another human being (if he was, in fact human. James had his doubts…).

Ever since the incident in the corridor last month, Lily had completely ignored him. James understood her anger, for she didn't understand that he had been forced to take action against Snape because Snape was without morals: he would hurt Lily the second he thought it would be most painful to hurt James. James simply couldn't allow Lily to become embroiled in their feud. Unlike Lily's anger, what James couldn't understand was her actions towards Snape. Since 'the incident', Lily had taken to studying with Snape, talking to him outside of class, and even eating with him sometimes! James couldn't understand her motives… Did she pity him? Was he coercing her? James didn't know, but he was hell-bent to find out.

_--_

"He's glaring again," Snape whispered to Lily, his tone bored but his eyes amused.

Lily huffed and refused to answer him. James had been glaring at her every chance he got. She couldn't understand why he looked so angry, he was the one at fault! He broke the promise he made to her, and Lily took oaths _very _seriously.

"Pass the rat liver, please, Severus," Lily said, her tone telling Snape to drop the Potter conversation.

He either didn't catch her tone, or ignored it. She would bet her signed copy of Elsa Fleming's _The True Happenings of the 1783 Goblin Uprisings _that it was the latter.

Snape handed her the slimy, yellow organ and watched her add it to the brew. "Well, you can't say he's not persistent. But, then again, perhaps he just sees a shiny object and can't seem to tear himself away." Snape said, his tone dripping dislike.

Lily glanced up and smiled at Snape. She found his dry humor quite amusing. After her last run-in with Potter, she had approached Severus on several occasions. At first, she had just been tentatively prodding him to see if he was going to inform Dumbledore of her illegal veritaserum activities, but her hesitant attempts at conversation had revealed a very surprising fact: the two actually had many things in common. Although he still sent her unfounded barbs and insults concerning her 'dirty blood', they no longer had the sting to them they did a year ago. Often, they could be seen revising their NEWT notes in the dusty stacks or arguing good-naturedly over some obscure fact or potion. Marlene was often with them (when she was not off adventuring in her beloved forest), although she and Snape did not share the same likes and opinions, she was not averse to his presence.

Lily sighed happily as they last ingredient was added to their brew; now all that was left to do was to let it simmer. Glancing around, she saw that they were the first group to complete their concoction. She caught a hearty wink from her professor, the infamous Slughorn. Sending him back a pulled face with her tongue stuck out, she was not surprised to hear his loud guffaw and a comment about her cheekiness.

Smiling to herself, she started packing up her books and her papers.

"Severus, Mar and I are heading to the library to check out some books for that Herbology report then heading to a late dinner, you in?" She asked, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"As much fun as reading about man-eating magnolias and then masticating with two goody good Gryffindor sounds, I fear I shall have to decline in favour of a previous engagement." Snape replied, his words harsh but his tone jesting.

"Alright, suit yourself, you pretentious bigot," Lily shot back, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

After dismissal, Lily picked up her bag and threw it over her shoulder, preparing to go meet Marlene in the library. "Bye, Sev," she said, "See you."

Walking out of the class, she missed the slight smile gracing his pointy features.

"Bye, Lily." He said, his tone soft.

He couldn't help but smile as he gathered his books, not wanting to admit, even to himself, how nice Lily Evans' quiet friendship was coming to mean to him after years of nothing but cruelty and unkindness.

_--_

"You know, Prongs, if you spent half as much time staring at our cauldron as you do at the lovely Miss Evans, we might actually pass this course." Sirius Black said, smiling at his distracted friend as they made their way to dinner.

James glanced at his friend. "What were you saying, Pads?" he asked watching the girl who had held his attention walk around the corner, heading to the library.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I was _saying, _you hopeless prat, that you are a lost cause and I don't know why I associate with you."

James laughed at his dramatic friend. "Puh-lease!" James said, "I'm both the handsome one _and_ the genius, without me, you'd be a goner."

Sirius stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah," he agreed, rolling his eyes, "Don't forget the humility, after all, that's what Evans finds soooooo appealing about you. Wait a minute, no she doesn't…."

"Shut up, you berk," James said, his voice lacking venom.

"Oh, no," Sirius said, his hand dramatically thrown against his brow, " I see yet another Evans mope fest fast approaching. _Padfoooooooot! Why doesn't she like me?? I'm so handsome and wonderful, She must be crazy!! _Spare me."

"Firstly," James said, not realizing that Sirius was miming the words to his speech, "I do not sound like that. Secondly, shut up,"

"Ooooohhh," Sirius gasped, his hand over his heart, " I am once again in awe of your arguing abilities. Your powerful words have won me over. Not."

"Don't get your lacy knickers in a twist, Padfoot," James said, "You're just still put out that McKinnon isn't hanging off your arm and refuses to acknowledge the bet."

Sirius straightened up. "Quiet you, she _is _in love with me, she just can't admit it 'cause my best mate is her best mate's sworn enemy. Ours is a forbidden love."

James rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's it. Come on, let's eat quickly so we can get a game of quidditch in before dark. It'll get our minds off our love lives, or more accurately, the lack thereof."

"Hey, speak for yourself," Sirius replied, "I've got birds lined up around the block wanting to jump my bones."

"Yep, but not the one you want…" James replied, his words echoing his own situation.

Sirius gave him a long look.

"Yeah," he agreed, "not the one I want…"

_--_

Sirius sighed loudly, the air from his mouth causing a silky lock of hair in front of his eyes to fall gracefully to the side of his handsome face. Having just finished a delicious supper in the Great Hall, he had unceremoniously announced to his friends he was going to take a quick walk down to the lake. Ignoring the knowing looks passed between Moony and Wormtail (James had nodded absently, his eyes fixed on Lily seven seats down), he had exited the school, disregarding many an inviting look from his female peers.

Sirius grimaced slightly as he muddled over the many thoughts in his head, all revolving around the same spunky little brunette who had clouded his vision for what seemed like ages, but in all actuality he had only recently noticed her. _That was the true mystery_, he mused to himself as he walked down the uneven stone steps leading down to the lake, _how had I missed her all this time? Years, now, I've messed around with girls who are duller than Madame Hooch's teapot collection with nothing better to offer than a pretty face and a lax self-respect, how could I have overlooked Marlene's passionate nature, let alone her soft beauty and her quick wit?_

He continued to mentally berate himself as he flung himself on the grass beside a tree, looking devastatingly handsome without trying at all. His eyes traced the tops of the trees lining the Forbidden Forest, waiting to hear a light rustle indicating someone emerging from between the branches. She would come out of the forest practically glowing, her face shining with happiness, as she had every night this week. He knew this was the case for he had watched her every night this week. Probably out of pity, Sirius assumed, or an _extremely_ powerful befuddlement charm, Lily had started hanging around Snivellus so Marlene had taken to spending even more time exploring the mysterious depths of the forest.

Sirius admired her courage, yet the risks she took made his head spin with worry. Honestly, what if she met up with a manic banshee or, God forbid, a minotaur with a taste for young women? Sirius shuddered at the thought of harm coming to Marlene, hence his nightly vigil. As soon as he saw her emerging safely from the depths of the woods, his heartbeat returned to normal and he visibly relaxed.

Sirius wondered if she noticed his presence. Wait, scratch that, he knew she noticed him. The first night, their eyes had connected briefly before she averted her gaze and scurried up to the castle, yet since then, she had resolutely ignored him, he supposed it was out of some absurd loyalty to Lily or something. But honestly! This whole situation was ridiculous. Firstly, just because Prongs had fucked up and reneged on his promise to Lily, why the hell did he and Marlene have to suffer? And secondly, (perhaps out of allegiance to Prongs or possibly just because he knew what a slimeball Snape could be) Sirius knew that James had been if not right, at least smart to harass Snape. The creep had lied to Lily about James using her for sex, and now she was eternally at his side, laughing at his lame jokes and treating him like he was a Gryffindor, for fuck's sake!

Not for the first time, Sirius lamented Lily's stubborn nature. If she would just get off her high hippogriff and listen to reason, this whole situation would be resolved and everyone would go home a winner.

Yet, although Lily's obstinacy was a matter of great annoyance to Sirius, he could not deny the real crux of the problem: Snape. Snape was a lying, manipulative, and let's face it, unhygienic, bastard. He had planted a lie in Lily's head and fostered it until it consumed her. Because Lily had such a kind, forgiving nature (something Sirius could not hold against her, for it was so uncommon), she was blind to the manipulations she was being subjected to. This riddle had plagued Sirius' mind since the beginning of this catastrophe: how to punish Snape and force the girls to see reason without coming off as a manipulative (and let's face it, slightly sociopathic) berk? This enigma whirled about in Sirius' mind as he lounged under the tree.

Minutes later, he was roused by the slight rustling just east of him, coming from the Forbidden Forest. Subconsciously, he straightened his shoulders and shook his head of hair, making his long bangs fall stylishly in front of his eyes.

--

Marlene climbed over a large tree root as she tucked her wand in her back pocket and reached the edge of the forest, ready to head back to the castle and turn in for the night. After a long afternoon of searching for mokes (highly elusive, for they are able to shrink at will), Marlene made her way to the castle with a satiated smile on her features. Stretching her arms above her head to alleviate the tension in her back, she shut her eyes briefly as her muscles relaxed. Walking in a dreamlike trance, she barely registered the rather large, rather boy-shaped object lounging at her feet, at least until her small, dainty legs were entangled with it and she went careening unceremoniously to the hard ground (rather, what should have been hard ground, yet felt more like the body of a teenage boy, a very _toned _and _muscular_ teenage boy).

Shite.

She had forgotten that he came out here after supper now, looking all devilishly handsome and lounging about like some sultan or prince of ancient lore. She lifted her head slowly, dreading the second her eyes connected with his, knowing that his gorgeous black eyes could easily be her undoing.

As their gazes connected they each felt a shiver go through their bodies. Marlene's stare skimmed over the chiseled contours of Sirius' face, down the corded muscles of his neck, coming to rest on his chest, the fabric of his school shirt doing little to hide the well-defined ridges of his physique. As her eyes made their way back up to his darkly angelic face, she was aware of screaming in her head, telling her to move, get up, REACT! Yet she couldn't for the life of her think why. As she saw Sirius' full lips curve into a devilish smile, her traitorous body finally caught up with her mind and she lurched forward, mumbling a frantic apology for her carelessness and attempting to crawl off his body with whatever little dignity she had in tact. Her frantic movements were soon thwarted, however, as his strong arms came to rest on her back, his light, yet firm grasp stilling the frenzied movements of her lower body.

--

Sirius marveled at the girl in front of him. Was she really sitting in his lap, or had he finally snapped and retreated to the deep recesses of his mind, free from the usual social constraints to explore every inch of the girl in front of him? Either way, he was going to take full advantage of the situation.

Grinning ferally, Sirius tightened his hold on the stunned girl and flipped their positions as though she weighed no more than a feather pillow. As he stared down at her, his eyes focused on her mouth, he felt an odd emotion well up inside of him, something he had never felt before and couldn't for the life off him put a name to. Oh well, there were more important things to focus on right now, most notably the young woman beneath him.

Marlene stared up at the boy above her. What the bloody hell was happening? She had been walking back to the castle, visions of her delightfully comfortable bed dancing through her head, and now her small body was trapped beneath the formidable (and FAR too attractive!) form of Sirius flippin' Black!

Hardly trusting herself to speak, she licked her dry lips, (this naively attractive action did not escape the attention of Sirius Black) and spoke in a voice so quiet that Sirius had to lean closer to hear (an action he did not mind at all for it brought his body flush against hers). "What. The. Bloody. Hell. Are. You. Doing!" she said, her eyes burning, half with indignation, half with blatant desire.

Sirius smiled at her look of fury. His eyes slowly traced the graceful curve of her cheek, noting with pleasure that she was slowly being enveloped but a blush that he could only describe as adorable. Bending his head down towards hers, he lightly brushed his lips along her jaw line, nuzzling her soft skin.

He smiled as her breathing hitched. Speaking as softly as she had only moments ago, he whispered against her soft skin. "You've been ignoring me lately, love. I've been going mad trying to get you to notice me these past weeks. But you seem to be noticing me now…"

Marlene gulped nervously, trying to mask the arousal flooding every fiber of her body at his suggestive words. Ignored him? Bloody hell, no one could ignore Sirius Black! Since their intimate time at the Gryffindor party, (and if she was honest with herself, long before that fateful night) she had been aware of him every time he walked into the room. Of course, how could she not be? Every female within seeing distance was aware of the magnetism of Sirius Black. Also, it seemed that lately, every time they were within the 50 feet of each other, he was doing something outlandish. He was always surrounded by people, in the middle of whatever was going on at the moment (more often than not, his doing). His voice was always the loudest, his jokes were always the funniest, and his opinions were always the most popular.

She slowly shook her head, not even remembering what she was disagreeing with. All she knew was that this was wrong, and it had to stop. It had to… to… to stop. Right now.

Oh, God, the boy could kiss.

Before her mind registered his intent, his lips came crashing down on hers, shaking her senses and clouding her judgment. Instinctively, her hands came up to entwine themselves in his silky hair, her fingers itching to run themselves anywhere they could reach. There was no teasing, no asking, just taking. The two teenagers were succumbing to weeks of pent-up desire and longing, and little would be able to break them apart, perhaps not even the screaming voice inside Marlene's head, yelling frantically that she was capitulating, she was giving in!

Letting out a moan, she arched her back like a languid feline as Sirius broke the kiss and ran his lips down her chin, coming to the sensitive patch of skin on her neck. Relishing the taste of her, he attacked her pulse point with relish, his hands stroking her sides, caressing the soft skin between the hemline of her shirt and the beginning of her worn jeans.

Marlene's breath hitched even further as her pleasure spiked due to his roaming hands. She let out a ragged groan as he traced the line of her jeans, his finger teasing the zipper. She was so aroused that she barely registered that they were still outside beneath a tree on the grounds, within full sight of any passer-bys. All she cared about was the stunning boy atop of her, straddling her like they did in all the romance novels, just before the scenes with the 'velvet-steel manhoods' and the other ridiculous euphemisms that she secretly adored, well, that, and shutting up that annoying voice of reason in her head spastically trying to get her to stop this hormone–fest.

--

Sirius was in heaven. Although he wanted to look up at Marlene's face and witness her eyes dilate in pleasure and her skin flush from arousal, he could not seem to tear his lips away from her soft skin. As one of his hands fiddled with her jeans' zipper, wanting more than anything to free her from its constraints and bring her to her peak again and again, yet terrified of pressuring her too much, his other hand snaked up her slim leg, fondling her soft curves and learning the feel of her magnificent body.

Not wanting her to feel trapped, he stealthily wrapped her leg around his and flipped their positions, not even needing to break lip-contact with her skin. He shuddered with pleasure as her light weight settled on him, perfectly aligning the juncture of her thighs with his. The two hissed with bliss as they came in to intimate contact.

"God, I need you. I need you," Sirius whispered into her skin, his tone frantic with need.

Marlene gasped, his heated words snapping her out of her trance. The voice inside her head, now aware of her renewed attention, began its screaming with new fortitude.

_You idiot! _It yelled, its voice oddly resembling that of Lily's, _you naïve little girl! Do you think you're special! Do you think you're the only girl to be seduced by Sirius fucking Black! He will use you! He'll use you and leave you in pieces! He's in the same league as Potter, you know, the guy that lied to your best friend? The guy that you are now, according to The Statute of Best Friends expected to hate with the fire of a thousand suns! Get a grip, get a level head, and get the hell out of here!_

The insulting words ringing in Marlene's head snapped her out of her daze as well as a ton of bricks hitting her would have. Stiffening in Sirius' arms, her legs sprang to life beneath her and practically catapulted her from his grasp. She landed in front of him, her face etched with panic and her body strung tight as a bow.

--

Sirius gaped in amazement at the girl in front of him. Not two seconds ago, she had been writing beneath him, giving him as good as she got. Now, she was sprawled in front of him, looking at him as though he were no better than the dirt beneath her shoes. Not understanding this surprising change of events, he reached for her, his hands longing to hold her again.

His forward action jogged Marlene's reaction time. Jumping up agilely, she quickly pulled her wand out of her back pocket and aimed it at the boy in front of her, her grasp so tense her wand shook.

"Stay away from me!" Marlene said, still out of breath from his fervent kisses.

"I don't understand, what's wrong?" Sirius asked, his voice pleading, his eyes darting between Marlene's face and her shaking wand.

"What's wrong?" Marlene repeated, her tone incredulous, " WHAT"S WRONG? YOU ARE WHAT"S WRONG! How dare you sit there, acting innocently after you just, you just…" Marlene stumbled over her words, not quite sure what to call what he had just done to her, just made her feel.

"After I just touched you, made you feel good! WORSHIPPED YOU!" Sirius yelled back, filled with so much emotion he felt that he would burst. What the fuck was wrong? Why was she pulling a 180?

"Worshipped me?" she spat back at him, her tone dripping with disgust, "You can't worship someone you don't respect! You've never worshipped anything in life, except maybe YOUR OWN REFLECTION! You are a shallow, bullying, womanizing CREEP! Not only are you in league with the boy who crushed my best friend without a second thought, you are everything I despise in this world! Cruelty! Vanity! Malice!"

Sirius opened his mouth to deny her unfounded accusations, but images of his actions towards certain unpopular students made him close it.

Marlene let out a bark of laughter that held no happiness in it. "There," she said, derision pervading her words, "You can't even deny it! You know what, Black? Stay away from me! Stay the fuck away from me! Don't talk to me, don't talk to Lily, and don't talk to Snape! Leave us the fuck ALONE and wallow in your shallow, self-serving world!"

Sirius eyes flashed with anger as she valiantly defended Snape, someone he knew was only using her. "Don't defend that slimeball!" Sirius said vehemently, his tone dangerously controlled, "He's a Death Eater! He's using you and Lil—"

Marlene cut him off with a silencing spell and a body bind. As he fell to the ground, she quickly wiped a tear that was rolling down her cheek, mentally berating herself for allowing him to make her cry. She whirled around and ran back to the castle blindly, her whole focus on getting to her dorm room and blocking out the last ten minutes from her consciousness.

--

Sirius stared at Marlene as she ran off, anguish tearing him apart as he lay on the ground, his body magically bound by unbreakable bonds. Hatred for the greasy Slytherin exploded within him. Snivellus had ruined the one relationship that had ever truly mattered to him. He had ruined Prongs' and Evans' chances, he had ruined anything he had ever touched with his greasy fingers! He deserved torment; he deserved to hurt as much as Sirius himself was hurting! He deserved to be mauled by a chimera, he deserved to be eaten by a manticore! He deserved to be…

Confronted with a werewolf.

--

Sirius sighed loudly, his muscles screaming for comfort. He had been lying on the hard, cold ground for what seemed like days! Where the bloody hell were his friends? His mind whirled as he contemplated the events that led to his immobility. As time continued to pass, all he could see in his mind's eye was the gloating face of Severus Snape, his smile resembling more of a grimace than a grin. Sirius screwed his eyes shut, trying to block out Snivellus' triumphant expression.

This was it, Snivellus was going to finally get what he has coming to him.

--

Peter rolled to his side on his bed. Where were his friends? Had they gone off without him again? Where they laughing, joking, pranking together, completely oblivious that they had left him behind?

He sat up on his bed, lamenting (not for the first time) the vast differences between his charismatic friends and himself. Bloody hell, he knew they wouldn't have spared him a second glance if he hadn't been placed in Gryffindor and subsequently in their dorm. He didn't have Sirius' good looks, James' winning personality, or Remus' sharp wit. He couldn't even—wait a minute, Peter interrupted his lament as his darting gaze caught sight of a bit of ratty parchment poking out of a pocket in one of James' pair of jeans.

The Map.

The boys wouldn't have gone out without the map to ensure their trip back if they stayed out past curfew. Hopping off his bed, Peter made his way over to the yellowed piece of parchment. Huffing indignantly, he noticed Prongs hadn't bothered to wipe it clean.

His small black eyes immediately began to investigate the whereabouts of his 'friends'. He immediately saw Remus and James' dots in the kitchens. By the looks of the two dots zipping about the room, the two where in the midst of a massive food fight. Feeling well left out and forgotten, he wondered where Sirius' dot was, probably squished in a broom closet with a gorgeous Ravenclaw tart or something equally cool. Peter could hardly contain his jealousy at the thought of his friends' easy magnetism. About to throw the map back on the floor, his eyes caught sight of a lone dot near the edge of the map. Sirius was out on the grounds. What the bloody hell was he doing there? There weren't any girls in sight; there was nothing to draw him there.

Tucking the map into his pocket, Peter ambled out of the room in the direction of the dot with Sirius' name on it.

--

"Bloody. Fucking. Hell." Peter whispered as he approached the figure lying beneath the tree. Here was his mentor, his hero, lying bound and helpless like an unprotected kitten. Peter could not help but smile at the irony. Usually these roles were reversed. More often than not, it was he that was the weakling, the one in need of help. Feeling a strange sense of power at this incongruous twist of fate, Peter stood still and let the situation sink in. Soon, though, he noticed that Sirius was glaring at him.

Quickly shaking himself out of the stupor, Peter released his friend from his invisible prison.

"Christ, Peter," Sirius said, stretching his hands above his head and shaking the kinks from his neck, "What were you waiting for, a Mardi Gras to pass by?"

Blushing at the handsome boy's rebuke, Peter shook his head.

"Uh, Padfoot," Peter said, his eyes downcast, "Who did it? Gonna go beat 'em up?" He couldn't keep the excitement from his voice at the prospect of some violence.

Sirius frowned at him. "No, she didn't understand what she was doing." Sirius said, his eyes directed towards the castle.

Peter's eyes almost bugged out of his head. A _girl_ did this to Padfoot?

"Who did—" Peter started to ask, but Sirius cut him off as though he hadn't heard (or didn't care) what he was going to say.

"Actually, there _is_ something I could use your help with," Sirius said, "But we'd have to keep it between us."

"Oh, yeah! Of course!" Peter said, his eyes shining with the delight that only acceptance could produce, "Yeah, you know you can count on me, I'm always—"

"Yeah, that's great," Sirius interrupted, "Anyway, here's the plan…"

--

Lily sat by the edge of the lake, idly attempting to skip rocks over the deceptively calm surface. Turning her head to the right, taking in the sunset, she vaguely heard someone addressing her. Looking at her two friends, she smiled meekly at their annoyed scoffs.

"Pardon?" she said, her tone somewhat formless and faraway.

Marlene affected a look of supreme aggravation. "Honestly, Miss Evans," she said, her manner irritated but her eyes laughing, "How do you expect to pass sixth year History of Magic without studying for the exam? It's not as though you're a disgustingly smart witch who could pass these tests in her sleep." Her words dripped with sarcasm. Lily, being gifted with a natural ability to remember facts and figures, had this exam in the bag. Her involvement was really to help her two friends with their studying.

"Now, now, McKinnon," Severus said, adopting a lofty tone, "Don't rebuke Evans so. If she can't be bothered to come down from her ivory tower and aid us poor commoners with a few morsels of her attention, it can't be helped."

Snorting (rather unladylike) at his mocking words, she refocused her attention on her friends. "Sorry Marlene, what was the question?"

"Discuss Epicurus' refinement of the cheering charm and how it affected his philosophical theories." Marlene read the question from a previous test.

"For Epicurus, the meaning of philosophy was to attain the content, tranquil existence, characterized by the absence of physical pain and fear, and by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends. Anyway," she continued, her voice monotonous and her words almost directly from her textbook, "he modified the existing cheering charm to allow more intellectual freedom so as to not inhibit philosophical discussion and progression."

"Right," Marlene said, her hands rustling throgh her severly disorganize notes, "10 points to the distracted redhead."

Lily smiled at her friend. Allowing her gaze to return to the lake, her brow furrowed as she saw Severus glance at his watch for what seemed like the tenth time that hour.

"You know, Severus," she said, "If you want to go…"

Blushing slightly at Lily noticing his impatience, he shook his head in the negative. "No, it's not that," he said, "It's just… Well, my house has their floor meeting tonight. Trivialities concerning student issues and such. I don't want to go… But I'll be expected to attend nonetheless."

Lily looked at him with surprise. Even Gryfindors didn't go to such lengths for house relations.

Smiling at her bemusement, Snape began gathering his textbook and notes. "Contrary to popular belief, Evans, we Slytherins are people too. It seems your allowing your prejudice to cloud your judgement yet again."

Snorting at the irony of this statement, Lily and Marlene bid goodbye to their companion.

"Odd bloke, that one," Marlene said, once Snape was out of earshot.

"Mmhmm…" Lily agreed absentmindedly.

--

Severus smiled slightly as the past evening replayed in his mind. Although he would never admit the effect Lily and even Marlene were having on his daily life, he could not keep the truth from himself. It was rather agreeable to be addressed as a person for once, rather than as a malignant fungus or a meal-ticket to an O in Potions.

As the reason for excusing himself from their study session reasserted himself in his mind, a frown settled on his pointy features. Yes, there was a Slytherin meeting tonight; however, its reason stemmed from a more malevolent source than the one he had previously cited: Voldemort. These Death-Eater Youth meetings were becoming more and more frequent as the year progressed, and it was becoming harder and harder for Snape to come up with logical reasons for his sudden absences from the girls.

Coming up to the corner of the hallway leading in the direction of his common room, Snape whirled around suddenly, upon hearing frantic whispering ahead of him. Stepping back slightly, he approached the wall cautiously.

He knew that voice.

Sirius fucking Black.

He smiled as the sound of urgency pervaded the handsome boy's voice. So, the Gryffindor hero was in trouble, eh? This should prove entertaining…

--


	7. Chapter 7

I own nothing from Harry Potter

--

"Kay, here he comes, get ready Peter," Sirius said, his eyes fixed on the map detailing Snape's route.

Seeing Sirius' signal, Peter cleared his throat. "Padfoot, Y-y-you can't be serious! What if someone found out, we'd all be expelled!" Peter whispered frantically.

"Come on, Wormtail, Where's your sense of adventure?"

"B-b-but to even get in!" Peter rejoined, his voice trembling, " You have to immobilize the tree, and the Whomping Willow c-c-could take us all out, n-n-not to mention if D-D-Dumbledore found out…"

Smiling at how nervous Peter actually sounded, Sirius shook his long hair from his eyes. "Don't be a prat, no one is going to find out. Be at the tree for 8. _Sunset._"

Peter swallowed nervously, not really needing to act the part. This plan _did _scare him. Yes, Sirius was the Alpha around campus, but Snape riled was a danger as well.

At any rate, this was going to be a night to remember…

--

Snape leaned against the wall as he heard the two Gryffindors leave. His eyes had a strange glow about them. Glancing at his watch, he quickly weighed the consequences of missing the meeting.

Turning around, he hastily made his retreat.

His mind had been decided the moment he had heard 'expelled'.

--

Remus slowly exhaled a breath as he glanced around the shack. Settling himself on the shredded bed, he bent down to untie his shoes. His mind played and replayed the scene he had just witnessed.

"_Moony!" Sirius shouted, his voice echoing through the empty hallway._

_Remus turned around and caught sight of his friend. Waiting patiently for him to catch up, he couldn't help but notice the scheming glint in his eye. Throughout Remus' years at Hogwarts, he had learned the meaning of that particular glint: trouble._

"_What's up, Padfoot?" Remus asked, stretching his neck from side to side, (the full moon was tonight, he always had muscle cramps leading up to it)._

"_Oh, the usual mayhem," Sirius responded, "Speaking of mayhem, I'm glad I caught up with you."_

_Remus snorted at his friend's stellar transition, but remained silent, allowing him to continue._

"_Now, now, Moony," Sirius said, his tone mocking, "Don't allow your inner prefect to come out now, not when I have the most brilliant prank of all time just floating about in my ridiculously attractive head."_

_Remus smiled at his friend. "Alright, oh masterful one, get me up to speed, but do it quickly, Pomfrey taking me down for my transformation soon."_

"_That's actually what I came to talk to you about," Sirius said, "The thing is, Wormtail and I are planning a surprise prank, but it has to go down tonight, so we won't be there to transform tonight. Is that cool with you?"_

_Remus' eyes widened in shock. He hadn't transformed alone in ages, not since the boys had perfected their animagus form._

_Glancing over at Sirius, he saw his face alive with mischief. Swallowing hard, he pasted a look of friendly happiness on his features._

"_Oh, yeah, of course it is," Remus said, his smile almost hurting his face, "That's fine."_

"_Great," Sirius said, clapping him on the back, "I knew it would be. Alright, I must off and away to tell James tonight is off. I can't wait till tomorrow and you and Prongs see the outcome of my prank, you're gonna laugh till you piss yourselves!"_

_With that crude remark, Sirius ran off in search of his best friend, leaving Remus with a desolate look on his face._

Sighing to himself, Remus stood up and started taking off his clothes, readying himself for his transformation, wishing more than anything that he wouldn't have to go through it alone.

He was about to find out that there were worse things that could happen.

--

"Yo, Jamie!"

James whirled around, his face expressing his severe dislike for that particular endearment coming from his friend.

"Hi _Siri,"_ James said, his acidic tone revealing his displeasure.

"Oh, fuck you, you overgrown deer," Sirius said, smiling at his best mate. His face slightly flushed, Sirius bent over when he reached his friend, whom he had finally tracked down on his way back from an impromptu flight on the quidditch pitch.

James laughed at his best friend's state of breathlessness. Despite his good physique, Sirius Black usually did nothing more athletic than go a couple tables out of his way for the last pieces of cake; Sirius Black did not rush, the world waited for Sirius Black, damned if it didn't.

"What's the matter, Paddy? Did you finally get that strengthening spell to adhere to the dungbombs?"

Sirius sent his friend a mock glare. "You laugh, but I'll be the one cackling when I finally get that to work… But seriously, I needed to talk to you."

James' eyebrows shot up as he silently bade Sirius to continue.

"Right, well, anyway," Sirius said, his gaze not entirely directed at James' eyes, (he didn't want to raise suspicions just yet, this prank was so brilliant, he wanted to see the genuine look of surprise on James' face the next morning). "Moony just stopped me in the hall. Turns out he's exhausted and won't be up for a runaround this evening. He'll catch up with us tomorrow."

James face was a mask of shock. Although Remus rarely expressed his feelings, it was no secret that the boys' transformations were incredibly important to him, making him slightly more human during his transformation.

"But, is he sure he wouldn't want us to just hang out with him in the shack? We don't have to go crazing around the countryside or anything."

"Look, Prongs," Sirius said, his tone slightly annoyed, "Don't shoot the messenger. Besides, he thought you'd be happy. You know, find a certain redhead and work your mojo… " Sirius allowed his sentence to trail off, hoping his friend's infatuation with Evans would placate him for the evening.

The mention of Lily seemed to distract James from his musings. Smiling at his black-haired friend, James shrugged his shoulders and offered a quick goodbye, leaving his friend with a very troubling look of deviousness on his striking face….

--

James went walking down the hallway, towards the doors that led to the lake. He had it on good authority (well, he had heard it from a second year whom had in turn heard it from the librarian, but still…) that Lily was outside studying by the lake.

Casually pulling of his sweater and slinging it over his shoulder, he ran a hand through his disheveled hair. Straightening his t-shirt, he quickly breathed into his hand to make sure his breath was fine (not that it really mattered, the girl probably wouldn't even talk to him, let alone snog him, but you never know…).

Clearing his throat, he walked up to the two girls sprawled out under a tree. Frantically thinking of something witty to say, he plastered a smile on his face.

--

"Whoa, jerk alert at 10 o'clock," Marlene whispered her head gesturing towards the approaching quidditch captain.

Lily's head automatically whirled around to see whom Marlene had been referring to. She let out an audible groan as her eyes took in James Potter. God… Did his hair always have to look so damn touchable?

Letting out an aggravated sigh, she forced her licentious thoughts from her head. Remembering she was supposed to be mad at him (at least she thought she was, she couldn't really remember why…), she opened her textbook and attempted to look absorbed.

"Hey ladies," James said, his voice sounding very deep, very suave.

"Hello Potter," Marlene said, smiling at her friend's forced nonchalance.

The three sat in uncomfortable silence for a few seconds…

"Well…" Marlene said, raising her hands above her head to stretch them, "I guess I should run and get that extra source on goblin rebellion, you know, to check that answer… Stay here, I'll be right back."

Lily squawked at her friend. They didn't need to check an answer, they had moved on to Astronomy for Merlin's sake! Before she could protest, Marlene had sprung up spryly, thrown an exaggerated wink at Potter, and jetted off in the direction of the castle.

Lily harrumphed, muttering under her breath about friends betraying friends, and such.

Smiling at Lily's mutterings, James leaned forward. "No need to be so put out, Evans, she's just looking out for you, wanting the best for you…"

"Oh, and that's you, is it?" Lily said, "Of all the arrogant, pretentious, and… and conceited things to say!"

"Lils, arrogant and conceited mean the same thing."

"Well… Well, yeah. I know."

Laughing at the cute expression on Lily's face, he leaned forward slightly. God, she really was beautiful. Her long red hair was spilling over her delicate shoulder in waves of crimson, her enormous green eyes could pull a bloke in and make him lose himself… Bloody hell, she'd make a poem of him yet…

Lily looked up, his silence disconcerting her. "What?" She demanded, her cheeks flushing from his unwavering gaze.

"Just looking…"

"Just looking at what?" Lily was eyeing him with distrust, but she couldn't help swallowing as his eyes connected with hers. God, his eyes were the colour of chocolate, so warm, so expressive.

James swallowed as she looked up at him. About to answer her question, a movement behind her momentarily distracted him. A figure was moving quickly on the other side of the lake, seemingly oblivious to them. But… that's ridiculous, the only thing on that side of the lake is the…

The Whomping Willow.

Shite!

Jumping up suddenly, James reached for his wand.

"Fuck, I have to go!" He said, his tone panicked.

Lily watched him race off.

Bloody hell, he looked like a banshee was on his tail! Lily's brow furrowed as she watched his figure race around the lake… Normally, she would write off his antics as some sort of prank, but the panic she saw in his eyes displayed true dread… Now the only question was…

Should she follow him?

--

James let out a harsh breath as his legs pumped furiously, attempting to catch up with the figure making its way to the tree. The shape was almost unidentifiable from this distance, yet something about the visible lank locks of black hair reminded James of someone, a person he desperately prayed he had misidentified.

Leaping precariously over the fence surrounding the pumpkin patch, James cursed as he realized his guess at the mysterious figure's identity had been correct: Severus Snape, bane of his existence, creeper extraordinaire. After countless duels with the boy, James could not mistake the telltale jerkiness of Snivellus' wand motion. Christ, what spell could he be casting? More importantly, why was he here? Did he know of Remus' condition? James ran an aggravated hand through his hair and shoved these questions aside; he redoubled his efforts to reach the tree. Witnessing a long stick whizzing towards Snape's outstretched hands and then prodding the knot at the base of the tree's trunk, James felt the blood drain from his face.

The greasy bastard knew how to bypass the tree's psychotic branches?

Fuck.

Intensifying his already insane speed, James felt the muscles in his legs scream from exertion. Finally, James reached his destination as the last of Snivellus' robes disappeared past the corner of the entrance. Knowing he had a few mere seconds before both he and Snape were werewolf fodder, he dexterously bounded around the corner and launched himself on Snape's body, sending them both hurtling towards the ground.

--

"Umphh!" Snape shrieked as his body unexpectedly went careening towards the earthen floor. Dazedly, he turned around and saw the last person he would have ever guessed to be on top of him.

Bloody James Potter!

Snape's brain seemed to freeze. Unable to comprehend this ridiculous turn of events, Snape did the only thing his frozen brain could think of: he lashed out.

"GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!" Snape screamed, anger coursing through his veins. How dare this insolent boy attack him like this! Were the years of torment not enough? Was his pride not satisfactorily slaughtered, left bloody and beaten, a mere memory from earlier years?

"Be quiet!" James hissed, shoving the greasy boy back down to the ground.

Before Snape could even process this bizarre turn of events, he heard an odd sound in front of him, like… like the panting of a dog, or something similar. Slowly, his eyes slip upwards, connecting with a pair of yellow irises. Moving slowly over the beast in front of him, he noted a large, fang filled mouth, a lolling tongue, and dense fur matted with what looked like… _blood._

A werewolf.

_Merlin's Balls_.

Two thoughts occurred to Snape at once.

Firstly, he would kill Sirius Black. He would torment him and maim him and hurt him beyond recognition.

Secondly, he was going to die, not as an old man surrounded by a loving wife and family (he had always pictured his eventual family as warm and bubbly, perhaps even ginger haired…), but as a gangly, worthless, downtrodden teenager with no one to mourn his passing. Sometimes, Snape mused, life really _sucked._

_--_

The two boys slowly backed away slowly and cautiously from the beast in front of them. James swallowed convulsively as the beast locked eyes with him. Before this evening, those yellow eyes had always reflected an odd sort feral intelligence when he visited Remus in his animagus form, now all they held was a bone-chilling lust for blood that caused James' skin to frisson in fear.

"Run" James whispered, his words dripping horror.

They needed no other command.

The boys hurtled down the hallway, the sound of the furious beating of the beast's paws behind them forcing them to reach speeds they had been unaware they had been capable of maintaining. The scenery flew past as James raised his wand and fired _Immobulus_ after _Immobulus_ at the rampaging creature. Quickly, Snape's incantations followed and the boys breathed a sigh of relief as they heard a whimper and then silence: a spell had hit. The beast may have been subdued temporarily, but not tamed. Never tamed.

Feeling as though their lungs on fire, the boys bent to the ground, hoping to gain sufficient breath to reach safety, knowing the spell would not last more than a few minutes at best.

James contained his rage at the disgusting Slytherin, knowing he would have more time to beat both an explanation and him to a bloody pulp once they had reached the school. Frantically, he motioned that they needed to continue. They raced around the lake, a place that James had always associated with fun and frivolity, not death and torment. Why, just ten minutes ago he had been sitting carefree and cheery, with Lily, no less, and now he—

O gods! LILY! James felt his stomach shrivel at the thought of her sitting blissfully ignorant under a tree, perhaps she had fallen asleep, perhaps she now studied with the help of a conjured flame. Either way, she was still outside!

Forcing his legs to move even more rapidly, James veered off to the left as they rounded the curve of the lake. Gods, if she died, if she was bitten…

--

Snape's eyes followed his movements, wondering what the wanker was heading towards; they were running for their lives, for fuck's sake! As his eyes followed Potter's route, they captured a glimpse of red in the distance, _bright red. _The same kind of red he had always pictured as the colour of his children's hair…

Lily was outside!

Snape's throat seemed to shrivel up and close as the possibility of Lily's impending fatality flashed before his inky black eyes.

Following Potter's lead, he raced towards the small body sprawled beneath a tree beside the lake. The two boys dashed towards the girl frantically, words of warning spouting incoherently from their mouths.

--

Lily sighed as she gathered her books and prepared to return to her dorm room. Deciding against following Potter, she choose rather to let the insufferable boy have his mystery, it wasn't like she cared about him or anything. Not even a little bit. At all. Yeah.

Blowing a wayward strand of hair from her eyes, Lily frowned slightly at an odd sound coming behind her, babbling and such. Turning slightly, her eyes widened as she witnessed the unfolding of an incredibly odd scene: James Potter and Severus Snape, together! Running towards her!

"Lily, get up!" James yelled, coming to a frenzied stop before the girl.

Lily gaped at the looks of panic on the two boys faces. "What?" she asked stupidly, her senses confused and wary. She frowned as the two boys simultaneously glanced behind them, their eyes searching the growing darkness.

"No time! Come on!" James yelled, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the entrance to the castle. Suddenly, she felt Severus next to her, grabbing her other hand and pulling her as well. Feeling like a rag doll being unceremoniously jolted between to opposing forces, Lily stumbled slightly under their vigor. Righting herself, she planted her hands on her hips and launched into a tirade: "Bloody hell! What the fuck is going on between you tw—"

Lily's rant was cut short by a quickly delivered spell from James' wand. Slumping into the boys' outstretched hands, Lily's slender form sagged into an unconscious state.

Turning slightly to look into Snape's eyes, James saw him shudder at the expression of pure rage in James' eyes. "Take her to the entrance and wait for me, if you defy me, I swear to Merlin, Snivellus, you'll regret it the rest of your god-forsaken life!" James snarled at the shaking boy in front of him, and raced off towards the direction of the danger.

--

Snape let out a shuddering breath as James darted away from him. Looking down at Lily's peaceful expression, he blinked rapidly and stumbled towards the entrance, clutching Lily's warm body tightly to his chest, as if to anchor himself to reality.

Reaching the doors, his legs gave out as relief washed over his body. Slumping to the ground, he cradled Lily's head in his lap and waited.

--

James hastily turned around to ensure Snape and Lily were in the castle, beyond sight. Running a hand through his hair, he slammed his eyes shut and concentrated on shifting to his animagus form. He felt the familiar tingling and almost smiled in exultation as his limbs began to shift form. Knowing he would be able to redirect Moony easily as a stag, he galloped off to the direction his nose led him, recognizing the familiar scent of a werewolf.

This was the straightforward part of the problem; the truly dangerous episode to come would be when he headed back to the castle and reencountered Snivellus. Not that James had any fear of the boy; rather, he feared his own actions and anger would blind him and he would do something he would later regret, but gods, what he wouldn't give to get his hands around that greasy idiot's scrawny neck!

Another thought occurred to James as he herded his friend back into the safe confines of the shack: if that slimy bastard had laid one nauseating finger on Lily after getting her to safety, there would be hell to pay!

--

Snape winced at the sound of the castle door being shut forcefully. Potter was back, and by the sounds of it, he was not happy. Snape swallowed convulsively as he repositioned Lily to rest against the stone wall of the castle. Watching the moonlight from a nearby window glint against her brilliant hair and her fair skin, Snape let out a ragged breath and tried to sort the events of this nightmarish evening out.

Okay, Lupin was a werewolf. This made sense, and he couldn't understand how he had missed this obvious truth. The boy's haggard appearance, his visits to his 'sick mother', his ragged clothes; all of these clearly pointed to lycanthropy.

Next, Black had obviously wanted Snape to be bitten, or perhaps killed! Snape almost snarled at the thought. A schoolboy bullying was one thing but that inbred piece of Black filth had gone too far this time! He'd be bloody expelled! Or even thrown into Azkaban! This was attempted murder! Snape's lips curled upwards at the mental image of Black rotting away in a cell. Serves the bastard right!

Lastly, Potter obviously knew of Lupin's affliction and apparently, he had some way of controlling the beast. Snape ran a pasty hand through his greasy hair as he remembered Potter saving him from the werewolf. Fucking hell, he owed that jumped-up wanker his life!

Snape cocked his head to the side as he heard Potter's shoes slam against the stone floor.

--

James flew around the corner leading to Snape. Rounding up Remus had been easy once the werewolf smelled no prey outside. James shook his unruly head of hair, attempting to get a stray lock out of his eyes. His eyes first took in the sight of Lily's small, fragile body lying limp and peaceful. Calmed slightly by the knowledge of her safety, his eyes flew to the crouched figure of Snape. Coiled up beside Lily, Snape glared at him, his beady black eyes conveying a dangerous level of animosity.

"What the bloody hell were you doing out there Snape!" James whispered vehemently, careful not to rouse Lily.

"Why don't you ask your inbred excuse for a friend!" Snape answered.

James frowned. Sirius? What did he have to do with this? James was about to ask Snape what he meant when he suddenly remembered something…

"_What's the matter, Paddy? Did you finally get that strengthening spell to adhere to the dungbombs?"_

_Sirius sent his friend a mock glare. "You laugh, but I'll be the one cackling when I finally get that to work… But seriously, I needed to talk to you."_

_James' eyebrows shot up as he silently bade Sirius to continue._

"_Right, well, anyway," Sirius said, his gaze not entirely directed at James' eyes, (he didn't want to raise suspicions just yet, this prank was so brilliant, he wanted to see the genuine look of surprise on James' face the next morning). "Moony just stopped me in the hall. Turns out he's exhausted and won't be up for a runaround this evening. He'll catch up with us tomorrow."_

_James face was a mask of shock. Although Remus rarely expressed his feelings, it was no secret that the boys' transformations were incredibly important to him, making him slightly more human during his transformation._

"_But, is he sure he wouldn't want us to just hang out with him in the shack? We don't have to go crazing around the countryside or anything."_

"_Look, Prongs," Sirius said, his tone slightly annoyed, "Don't shoot the messenger. Besides, he thought you'd be happy. You know, find a certain redhead and work your mojo… " Sirius allowed his sentence to trail off, hoping his friend's infatuation with Evans would placate him for the evening._

_The mention of Lily seemed to distract James from his musings. Smiling at his black-haired friend, James shrugged his shoulders and offered a quick goodbye, leaving his friend with a very troubling look of deviousness on his striking face…._

But surely… No, there was no way Sirius was implicated in this. Sirius may have faults, carelessness and impulsiveness among them, but he would never betray Remus like this… Right?

James scowled at Severus. "Why don't you answer again, Snivelly, and this time, the truth." James spat at his, anger pervading his vision.

"What trouble in the Marauder paradise? How touching…" Snape mocked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Faster than Snape could see, James lunged at him, wand pointed at his throat.

"Now, you listen to me, you insignificant creep, you tell me how you learned about the tree and what is inside it or you will be very, _very _sorry." James murmured, his tone harsh.

Before Snape could respond with a stinging retort, both boys heard a small moan from the small girl resting on the floor. Together, the boys turned towards her as she stirred awake.

--

Lily groaned as regained consciousness. Feeling as though she had been hit by a truck, she carefully rubbed the pain from her cricked neck as she took in her surroundings: a hard floor, the dark of night, and a very unlikely duo of boys. Bloody hell, what the fuck was going on!

"Bloody hell, what the fuck is going on!" She voiced, wincing at how dry her throat was.

"Lily," James said, running a hand through his unruly hair, "It's all… It's really hard to explain."

"Lupin's a werewolf. Black tried to kill me. Potter and I saved you." Snape said monotonously, his eyes transfixed by the sight of her stretching her arms above her head, causing her shirt to climb up slightly.

James glared at Snape's wandering eyes and loose lips. "Sirius DID NOT try to kill you!" James said.

"Oh, shut up, Potter! Why don't you go and ask him!" Snape said, his voice shaking with hatred.

"Why don't you just shut up!" James responded, wanting nothing more than to smash the Slytherin's face in.

"Make me, you idiotic Neanderthal!" Snape returned.

"Boys!" Lily shouted, somewhat surprised that they turned to listen to her. "Uh… Look, we cannot handle this ourselves, I think we should go and see Dumbledore or.. I don't know, we can't just stand here yelling at each other!"

Both boys were about to dispute this, when the three students' heard an all-to familiar 'ahem'. Turning slowly towards it, all three teenagers swallowed convulsively when their eyes met those of Dumbledore's, yet for the first time in their memories, his usually bright eyes were not twinkling.

"Yes, Miss Evans, you are quite right. If you'll follow me to my office…" Dumbledore said, his tone inviting no argument.

--

Lily convulsively twisted the hem of her shirt between her sweaty fingers. Glancing from Potter, to Snape, to Dumbledore, Lily wracked her brain for a connection between tonight's events. Obviously, there was something she was not aware of, yet judging from Snape and Potter's glares of doom and Dumbledore's knowing look of anger, she was the only one uninformed.

"Miss Evans," Dumbledore said, interrupting the frantic whirling of her mind, "Would you please go to the Gryffindor dormitories and retrieve Mister Black? I believe his statement may be required to sort out this enigma."

"Sir, you don't honestly believe Sirius would ev—"

"Mister Potter," Dumbledore interrupted, silencing him with a raised hand, "I must examine all sides to this situation so as to construct a just and informed opinion. You may go, Miss Evans."

Lily briefly nodded her head to the Headmaster and quickly shuffled out of the room. Walking through the halls in a daze, she methodically stated the appropriate password and climbed the boys' stairs, eventually finding herself in front of the Marauders' door. Pushing the door open without any ceremony, she frowned at the complete state of disarray. Squelching the impulse to tidy her surroundings, she looked up and her eyes connected with Sirius Black's gaze, the rest of his face hidden behind a magazine, the cover of which had a photo of a scantily clad girl winking at her suggestively and tossing her hair over her shoulders repeatedly.

"Evans! You're out of luck, Prongs isn't here, so you will have to look elsewhere to locate him for your nightly sexcapade. I suggest—"

"Shut up, Black," She interrupted, rolling her eyes at him, "He's with Snape in Dumbledore's office. The Headmaster wishes to see you as well."

The previous look of boyish charm melted off his handsome features, to be replaced with a look of alarm. Quickly, the boy tossed his magazine away and pulled a sweatshirt over his head. Grabbing his wand, he nimbly jumped off the bed and they left the room in silence.

"Did you do it?" Lily asked, the silence between them now broken.

"Hmm?" Black said, confused.

"Did you betray your friend, commit attempted murder, and then feel so unaffected by your perverse actions that you went back to your room to read a girly magazine?"

"Betray my friend? Look, Evans, I don't know what you've heard but I would never betray James and—"

"Not James, you idiot!" Lily snarled at him, "Remus! You know, your mate that turns into a terrorizing beast once a month?"

Black froze. "How did you know about—"

"Maybe, if you had considered someone other than yourself for one single second, you'd realize how I know of your friend's affliction."

"Evans, stop speaking in riddles, what the fuck is going on here?" Sirius said, his tone growing louder with anger.

"Well, we're here, why don't you ask Dumbledore yourself?" Lily said, spitting out the password for Dumbledore's office. The two students climbed the stairs in ominous silence.

--

Sirius squared his shoulders as he entered the office. Immediately he was fixed with a glare from his headmaster. Instantly, he felt uneasiness. Glancing to his left, he saw his best mate glaring at Snivellus. Once James noticed his friend's arrival, he gave him a grin of confidence, certain this entire misunderstanding was going to be straightened out. Sirius returned the smile confidently, however, inside he felt a quiver of apprehension. Tossing his hair from his eyes smoothly, he turned his glance to the pallid boy to his right, only to be taken aback at the intense look of hatred on the boy's pointed features. Even after countless confrontations with both Snivellus and his own inbred psychotic relatives, he had never encountered such a look of odium. He gracefully sat in the empty chair directly in front of the headmaster's desk. Next to him, he saw Lily fidget nervously, obviously wondering if she was supposed to stay.

"You may take a seat, Miss Evans. Your statement will be needed." Dumbledore said, his glare momentarily softened as he spoke to the nervous redhead, only to be intensified when he resumed his glare of anger at Sirius Black. Sirius felt a shiver of something akin to fear as he felt Dumbledore's eyes bore into his, as if Dumbledore was looking right through his instinctual façade of his cool and unruffled exterior.

"So, Albus, what seems to be the matter?" Sirius asked cheekily, hoping his voice sounded more serene out loud than he himself felt inwardly. Instead of the normally amused smile his impudence usually garnered, his headmaster continued to stare at him with a look of anger.

"Mister Snape, may you please detail the events leading up to tonight's misfortune, since Mister Black seems to be suffering from an acute case of amnesia?" Dumbledore asked, the polite edge of his voice emphasizing, rather than subduing, his anger.

Snape's eye twitched as he began his recount of the last few hours, not even needing to hyperbolize the handsome boy's misdeeds in order to incur the headmaster's wrath. As he reached the point of Potter's entry, he grimaced, not wanting to retell of the boy's heroics, so he glossed over the last few details.

"Professor! You cannot honestly believe what—" Potter said, shooting a look of disgust at the Slytherin for supposedly maligning his best friend.

Dumbledore held up his hand, effectively silencing the boy's protest. "Mister Black, is that depiction of events accurate? Allow me to remind you, should I be in doubt of the truth of your answer, because a student's life has been threatened, I am fully prepared to use Veritaserum in order to come to the absolute truth."

Sirius' mouth gaped at this pronouncement. No amount of fancy talk or charismatic lying was going to save him this time. In a moment of blind panic, he dumbly mumbled a soft 'yes, sir'.

--

James jerked his head towards the quietly mumbled affirmative from his best friend. His mouth slackened in surprise. Sirius, his most trusted and loyal friend, had not only betrayed Remus' and by association, his, trust, he had knowingly committed attempted murder. James' eyes connected with Sirius', only to be met with what he assumed was sorrow and shame. James could not help but wonder if this shame was only caused by the fact that he was caught rather than the fact that he was guilty. As he stared at his friend, he couldn't help but see moments of bullying he and Sirius had committed over their school years, and how his acceptance of said bullying may have justified his best friend's betrayal in Sirius' mind. He shuddered at the thought. Feeling the need to scream, to yell, to shout at his friend possessed him, but he found he couldn't even form the words. Abruptly, he stood up and with one last look of disbelief and anguish directed at his best mate, he turned and stormed blindly out of the room.

"Prongs! Wait! I can explain! I—"

"Leave him, Mister Black," Dumbledore said levelly. "He will need time and space to adjust to such a treachery."

"Treachery? I didn't mean—" Sirius said.

"Alas, you did. I will deal with you momentarily, Mister Black. Now, Miss Evans. I fear I must ask an act of diplomacy from you. Despite the vicious beast that you were subjected to tonight, Remus Lupin is an invaluable student, and I—"

"Sir! You cannot honestly want Lupin to remain here! Not after tonight!" Snape interrupted, his anger erupting viciously.

"That is exactly what I mean to do, Mister Snape. Until tonight, Mister Lupin's lycanthropy had been controlled and managed nicely. The only reason it was unleashed tonight was because of another student's encroachment onto forbidden territory." Dumbledore said, his unvoiced reprimand for Snape's trespassing hanging unspoken in the air. Snape glared at the warning, but he remained quiet and slouched in his chair.

"Now, Miss Evans, this entire situation is both horrifying and dreadful, but I must ask you to project yourself into Mister Lupin's place. When he awakes, he will discover his trusted friend betrayed him—"

"I never meant—" Black interrupted, only to have Dumbledore not even falter.

"—Must we also condemn him to expulsion because of events outside of his control?"

"Of course not, sir." Lily responded, still very dazed at the amount of shocking information she had just digested.

"So I may rely upon your secrecy and prudence?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, indubitably." She responded, having had no wish to punish Remus in the first place.

"Thank you for your tact and maturity, Miss Evans. You may leave." He said.

She stood up and smoothed out her skirt, preparing to take her leave. "Um, sir?" she asked. "I could not possibly sleep now. May I take a walk through the hallways? I know it's late but—"

"Of course, Miss Evans. You may take as long as you like. If you are still awake once I have finished here, you may return if you need someone to talk to."

"Thank you, sir." She mumbled, all but fleeing his office and the oppressiveness of the two boys' hatred.

Dumbledore watched his bright, young student scurry out of the door. Turning his attention to the two students still remaining in front of him, he raised his fingers to the bridge of his nose, attempting to stave off the headache he felt rising.

"Mister Snape, I fear I must request of you the same tact I asked of Miss Evans."

"Sir, you cannot mean to allow such a beast to remain in—" Snape said.

"I assume you are speaking of Mister Lupin's alter ego? If yes, than that is exactly what I intend to do. This entire disaster was entirely of Mister Black's making, and he shall be the recipient of the reckoning, not Mister Lupin. Now, before I decide upon Mister Black's penalty, I must have your oath of secrecy concerning tonight's events."

Snape glared at the headmaster. Dumbledore should be calling the Dementors from Azkaban, not protecting the meaningless feelings of a _werewolf. _

"I await your response, Mister Snape."

Crossing his arms tightly against his chest, Snape jerked his head in a nod of compliance and fixed his eyes on the floor, silently fuming with outrage.

"Thank you. You may go." Dumbledore said.

"WHAT?" Snape yelled, completely affronted. "I want retribution! I want justice! This— this… inbred idiot has attempted to murder me, and you ask me to leave!"

"I understand your fury, Mister Snape."

"Like hell you do! Since our first meeting he has degraded me, demeaned me, and now he makes an attempt on my life!"

"Mister Snape, I will exact punishment on your behalf, and it will be just. However, that is between myself and Mister Black, so I must ask you to leave."

Snape glared at both Dumbledore and Sirius before storming out of the office, the second person to do so in a mere two minutes.

Again, Dumbledore watched one of his brightest students leave his presence. As the door to his office slammed, he returned his gaze to Sirius Black. As he contemplated the boy in front of him, he felt his years weigh heavily upon him. Sighing heavily, he steepled his fingers and contemplated the situation.

"Mister Black, allow me to congratulate you. Never before have I seen such blatant disregard for human life, nor such disdain for one's most trusted friends." He said, sarcasm coating his angry words.

"Sir, please believe me, I never thought—"

"Exactly, you never thought. That you could do something so odious astounds me, even after all the reports of your spiteful bullying over the years."

Sirius remained silent.

"I should shout at you, yell at you for your disgusting actions and the consequences that shall arise from them, but I find I cannot. I cannot even look at you at the moment without profound feelings of disgust and abhorrence. So, if you have no objections, I shall dole out your punishment and you shall leave my sight. Is that understood? Good. One-month suspension and detention every weekend upon your return. Perhaps Mister Snape will feel this to mild; however, you and I both know that a month in 'The Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black' is as harsh as any punishment or torture known to man… What, no objections? No vehement protestations of innocence? You disappoint me, Mister Black."

Sirius blanched at the punishment. Knowing no amount of protests would reverse the judgment, he steeled himself and derisively asked, "Is that all?"

Dumbledore stared at his gifted pupil, feeling great loss at the unrealized potential in him. "Yes, that is all. Leave. You have one hour to collect you belongings, then you shall floo from my office. Go."

Sirius sneered scornfully at his still respected headmaster and saluted him sarcastically as he headed out. His confidant swagger soon fell away, however, once he was out of sight. Slowly, the repercussions of his actions had time to sink in and he felt a great weight settle on his shoulders. He dragged his feet but he could not reach his dormitory slow enough. He stood staring at the oak door blocking him from his dorm. Tossing his hair from his eyes, he once again pasted an air of 'cool' on and entered the room. Immediately seeing James lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He did not move when Sirius entered, nor when he began collecting his belongings.

"He chucked you out, then?" James asked angrily.

"A month at my "home", then detention for the rest of the year." Sirius clarified, clumsily throwing his belongings into his trunk.

"Really? I thought traitors were supposed to go to Azkaban? Not to mention attempted murderers." James spat out viciously, but Sirius couldn't find the voice to reply.

"You know, I railed at Snape when he accused you of this. I said you'd never betray Remus like that. Guess I was wrong, eh? Guess you _are _just like your family after all."

"Prongs, it was just a joke! I never—"

"Just a joke? _Just a joke? _Well, I'm not fucking laughing. You know what? Just pack your stuff." James said angrily, rolling over to give Sirius his back.

Sirius stared at his best friend. His world was falling apart all around him, just because of one stupid prank. Angrily throwing socks into his trunk, he took out his wand and magiked the rest of his belongings into the crate.

"Right. Well. I'm off." He said, at a complete loss for words, only to be greeted by silence so loud he thought he'd go deaf.

"Bye…" He mumbled softly, dragging his trunk to the door.

--

"_Goodbye_…" James murmured, too quietly to be heard.

--

Minutes later (or was it hours?), James tossed off his covers. Running an aggravated hand through his hair, he threw on a pair of shoes and left the dormitory, needing to be somewhere else, anywhere else.

--

Lily sighed quietly as she wandered past the dozing portraits. She had yet to come to terms with the event of the night. Remus, a werewolf, Black, a… well, a sociopath, really. Lily convulsively clutched her hands together as she meandered down the twisted hallways of her school. Lost in her thoughts, she almost yelped in surprise as she saw a large figure in front of her, her lit wand barely illuminating his shape.

James Potter.

Oh, gods, she had no idea what to do, or say, for that matter. Torn between skulking off and offering him some sort of comfort, she quickly made up her mind…

--

Sirius slowly ran his hand through the small pot of floo powder in his grasp. Under one arm he held his bundle of assignments that Dumbledore had amassed for him to complete, under the other, he held his worn journal that held all of his most personal thoughts. Both would serve him in the month to come, distracting him from the horror of his 'family'. Sighing resignedly, Sirius grabbed a handful of powder and approached the fireplace, reconciled to the mental torture that was in his near future.

"I regret that I am forced to do this, Mister Black," Dumbledore said from behind him, startling Sirius from his dark thought. The boy turned to him and nodded, his eyes no longer sparkling with the mischief that he was so infamous for.

"You're not the only one with regrets, sir." Sirius said, not able to meet the old man's gaze.

"You are a gifted young man, Mister Black, but for some reason your actions and thoughts are saturated with egocentricity and foolishness. You will leave my office tonight a silly boy, but you will return as a man."

Sirius looked over his shoulder at his mentor's words. Not knowing what to say, he tossed his handful of powder into the fire and spoke his destination clearly. Stepping into the flames absentmindedly, he watched the chimneys fly by his vision as he hurtled rapidly towards his own private hell.

--

Sirius feet landed hard on the authentic Persian carpet adorning the floor in front of the impressive fireplace of his ancestral home. Shuddering at the quiet pervading his dwelling, he swallowed loudly as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. Knowing Dumbledore had explained the situation to his mother before his arrival, he prepared himself for her volatile reaction.

"So, my prodigal son returneth."

Sirius' skin crawled at the low voice whispering to his left. Turning slowly, he fixed the loathed woman with a bland stare.

"Hello, mother." He said, his tone implying boredom instead of the true hatred he was feeling.

"Imagine my surprise when I was surprised by a visit from that wretched mudblood devoted headmaster of yours, telling me my offspring has been living up to his family name, finally? Trying to kill a halfblood by means of werewolf? Your devotion warms my aged heart, my son…" She said softly, her thin lips curving into a wicked smile at his discomfort.

"_It wasn't like that!"_ He whispered vehemently. "I'm not like you. I'll never be like you."

She merely smirked evilly at the promise in his voice. Raising her wand slowly, she watched her son's eyes widen in fear slightly, yet his face remained a mask of insolence. A little spell would soon change that…

With a simple murmured word, her oldest son was soon thrashing at her feet, his screams of agony bouncing off the elaborate wallpaper.

"Welcome home, my son." She whispered, the sounds of her malicious words drowned out by her son's piercing shrieks of anguish. "Welcome home…"

--

Lily stared at the figure of James Potter. Feeling both the need to speak to him, to comfort him yet also to leave him to his solitude, she felt torn. Several times she opened her mouth, trite words of sympathy about to spew forth, but she couldn't seem to form the words. Deciding that perhaps it just wasn't her place, she quietly turned around and started to walk away, but a quiet voice stopped her.

"How could he do it, Lily?" She heard James ask quietly. Starting slightly at the voice, she turned around slowly. Walking up to him, she offered a small smile of sympathy as she slid down the wall to sit next to him.

"Bla— I mean, Sirius, is… impetuous. He just didn't stop to think about how his actions would… would affect his friends." She answered gently.

James turned towards her and fixed her with a glare. "Lily, impetuous people get unplanned tattoos, or go skydiving, they don't fucking betray their best mates and try to off social outcasts."

Wincing at his harsh words, Lily decided to remain quiet and let James steer the conversation. Seconds ticked by and turned into minutes, Lily thought the silence would drive her insane, but James finally spoke up.

"Snape's terrified of heights, y'know." James said. "That's why he hates quidditch so much."

Lily was surprised with the sudden turn of conversation, but waited for James to make his point.

"Once… After I found out what his boggart was… I told Sirius. We… we locked him out on a turret and just… left him there till a fourth year kid reported his screaming and got a teacher. I laughed about it, then, with my mates. But later… when my Mom found out from Dumbledore and she confronted me about it, she said she had never been ashamed of me, until that moment. That was the last conversation I had with her before she— before she died." James said, his voice cracking slightly.

Lily's mouth went slack in surprise. Feeling completely inadequate, she put a hand on his shoulder.

"James…" Lily whispered comfortingly, "Your mother knows that you are a better person than that. She's proud of you. You saved Snape's life tonight… You saved my life tonight."

The two teenagers sat in silence for a short time, both contemplating the events of the night.

"It's just… I don't know. Sirius is just so…" James said, running a hand through his hair and searching for the right words. "He has it so hard."

Lily attempted to not show her disbelief. Sirius Black, a hard life? Good looks, natural brilliancy, oodles of money? Not likely.

"No, it's true," James said, reading the skepticism on her delicate features. "He doesn't talk about it, but his parents are detestable. They're a part of the old order, y'know, the pureblood psychos? They… they use the _Cruciatus_ curse when he and his brother don't 'measure up'.

Lily gasped at this. The Torture Curse?

"He never talks about it, but I know. He let it slip one night. The next morning, he laughed it off and said he was just pulling my leg, but I knew. I think he knew that I knew. He never talked about it again."

"You have to tell Dumbledore, James. He never would have sent Sirius home again if he knew."

"I can't, Lily. I don't have any proof, and Sirius would die before admitting weakness. I just don't know what to do. On one hand, I'm furious with him. I want to scream at him for what he's done. Bu on the other hand… I want to scream at myself."

"James, in no way are you to blame for—"

"Yes I am! Don't you see, Lily?" James said harshly. "I condoned all these years of bullying, of— of harassment. Hell, I've caused a lot of it! I should have done something sooner, and we wouldn't be in this situation!"

"James, it was just stupid kid stuff, it doesn't matter—"

"Yes it does. It matters to you. You said it was wrong. Do you remember that? That day down by the lake?"

Lily averted her gaze, not knowing what to reply.

"I remember it, y'know. Every detail is fucking _stamped _into my mind. _But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone. _Why didn't I just leave him alone?"

Lily didn't have an answer.

"And now… Now I don't know what to do." James said remorsefully, staring at the brick wall, but not really seeing it.

"I can't tell you what to do, James, but I can tell you what I think. It's going to be hard. Hell, it's going to be almost impossible, but you have to talk to him, to ask him what he was thinking. Even if you can't go back to normal, you have to talk to him. Also, you have to be the one to talk to Remus. He has to hear it from someone he trusts."

"Oh, fuck," James said, running a hand down his face, "What am I going to say to Remus? He's going to be devastated."

"Just tell him the truth. He deserves it. He's a wonderful person who was handed an incredibly unfair affliction, it's not his fault."

"Yeah," James said. Sighing resignedly, he softly said, "We should go back."

"Yeah…" Lily agreed.

Looking over to her, he smiled sadly and jumped up agilely, then offered her a hand up. Pulling her up easily, he allowed his hand to drop to his side, wondering how he could marvel at the softness of her skin even at such a bleak moment. Shaking off his inappropriate thoughts, he smiled sadly as they walked down the halls in silence. Upon entering the Gryffindor tower, he turned towards her.

"Lily… Thank you for talking with me. It really… helped me." He said, staring at his shoes.

Lily contemplated his shy demeanor. Feeling impulsive, she threw her arms around his neck and surprised him with an impromptu hug.

James' eyes flew opened in shock as he felt Lily's small arms encircle his neck. Feeling an unaccustomed warmth spread through his body, he tentatively enclosed her tiny waist with his arms and buried his face in her fragrant hair.

"James, I should be the one thanking you! You saved my life today." She murmured into his neck.

"No, really, anyone would have… It's not a big— don't mention." He stuttered, still bemused by her warm embrace.

Suddenly feeling awkward and over stepping her bounds, Lily all but jumped from his embrace. Blushing furiously, she stepped back hurriedly.

The two teenagers stood in awkward silence, the only sound in the room was the ticking of the ornate grandfather clock.

"Well…" James said, still feeling his skin tingle where Lily had just been embracing him. "I guess this is goodnight."

"Yes…" Lily said. "Umm… James? Could you do me a favor?"

"Anything…" He said quietly, his eyes gazing into her expressive eyes.

"Can you tell Remus I'm always here if he needs to talk? And that goes for you as well. I know we've had… issues in the past, but that doesn't change the fact that sometimes we just need someone to listen."

James smiled at her kind words. She was so kind, so giving. She accepted Remus despite his lycanthropy, and she even accepted himself after his confession of the agony he had inflicted upon Snape.

In that moment, he loved her.

--

James ran a weary hand over his face as he stole another glance at his watch. Remus would be coming out of the entrance of the tree any moment and he wanted to speak to him before he went for his mandatory visit to the hospital wing. James cursed softly as he kicked a small rock littering the pathway. Watching it drop into the lake with an audible splash, James tried to figure out how to tell Remus about last night's catastrophe.

'_Oh, sorry, mate, but our best friend completely let us down last night and told the most disgustingly horrid kid in our grade (who just happens to hate us completely) that you turned into a murdering beast once a month. Anywho, long story short, you terrorized the grounds last night and almost killed said kid, not to mention the girl I'm madly in love with. But no hard feelings, right?'_

Fuck. This responsibility thing was a total bitch.

James was pulled from his sardonic lament when he heard footsteps approaching. Looking up, his eyes took in Remus' haggard appearance. His gait was slightly limping and he had a rather nasty gash along the side of his face. Worse yet was his expression of fearful apprehension. Remus obviously knew something was wrong when he spotted James waiting for him, his mind was probably tormenting him with all sorts of gruesome images. James offered him a small smile as he approached.

"Hey." James said, not really sure how to begin.

Remus eyed him warily before murmuring a soft greeting.

"Do you— do you remember anything from last night?" James asked. He knew that Remus didn't, but he was still unsure how to begin.

"Oh god. Please tell me that I didn't'… that no one is—" Remus stuttered, unable to voice his thoughts.

"Oh, no! No, you didn't bite anyone!" James clarified.

"Thank god," Remus said. "It's just, with you waiting for me and all, I figured…"

"No. Everyone is safe. But something did happen last night. Something bad."

Remus nodded slowly, preparing himself for whatever revelation his best friend was about to divulge. Remus racked his brain for what could be the matter. One of his greatest fears was helplessly inflicting another with lycanthropy, and knowing that that was not the catastrophe was a blessing. What the bloody hell could have happened to rattle Prongs so thoroughly?

Remus offered James a smile and glanced around wonderingly. "Where's Padfoot?" Remus asked, figuring the black-haired boy must be close by. His friends were so loyal and good; they would never abandon one another at a time of crisis. He must be around here somewhere…

James flinched slightly at his friend's innocent question, and the horrible answer that went along with it. Figuring that he had best not delay any longer, he nodded towards a large tree that the boys often lounged beneath.

"Come on, we should probably sit down…" James said.

Remus couldn't help the feelings of foreboding that that simple statement evoked. Cautiously following his friend, he settled himself onto the slightly dewy grass and waited for an explanation…

--

Lily stole a quick glimpse at the portrait as it swung open only to reveal… yet another group of third years. She sighed loudly as she refocused her eyes onto the open book on her lap, the words mulling meaninglessly together. She had been waiting here for what seemed like hours, hoping for a chance to 'casually' run into Remus and make sure he knew that not only was her silence guaranteed, but so was her friendship. She wasn't sure what segway into a conversation she was going to use, seeing as it's not exactly a 'Wow, that's some weather we've been having' kinda deal. She didn't exactly have a stellar track record of suave confidence, but she was banking on honesty still being the best policy. About to give up, she picked up her book and clasped it close to her chest. Perhaps it would be best to give Remus time to digest the information. Lily knew that James had decided to inform Remus himself, as she had suggested herself last night. She had seen him leaving early this morning, offering her an awkward wave and a shy smile on his way to the grounds. Remembering his frank admissions last night contrasted with today's shyness sent a funny little frisson down her spine. Scoffing slightly at her girly notions (quite unlike her, indeed), she climbed up the stairs to her dorm to retrieve her arsenal of necessary tools for a productive day in the library. Perhaps not the most exciting plan, but a girl could only handle so much drama in a span of twenty-four hours…

Exiting the portrait, Lily searched her pocket for her lip balm as she awkwardly shifted her heavy bag of books to her other shoulder. Digging around in her pocket, she finally grasped the small tube but was startled by a softly spoken curse word a few steps ahead of her. Looking up, her eyes widened comically as she realized she had almost bumped into Remus Lupin, wolfboy extraordinaire. Hastily shoving her lip balm back into her pocket, she hastily stood straighter and repositioned her book bag.

Seconds ticked by.

"Uh, hi, Remus." Lily said, her carefully planned speech flying out of her head and in to the abyss.

"Lily." Remus mumbled, averting his eyes and making to push past the slight redhead.

Sensing her opportunity to soothe the boy swiftly dissipating, Lily quickly latched onto his arm and held him there.

Startled slightly by the redhead's unexpected action, Remus almost forgot to be ashamed of last night's mayhem and looked into her eyes. Shocked by her genuine smile, his eyes traveled back down to where her hand lay resting on his arm. She didn't move it.

"Remus, I— I wanted to talk to you."

He looked away, unable to bear the girl's soft spoken concern. He was an animal, unworthy of such friendliness.

"I just… Well, I wanted you to know that if you wanted to talk about last night, or, you know, anything else. I'm here." She said.

Remus looked at her, startled by what seemed like genuine concern. Of course, Prongs had been sincere in his concern as well, but this girl didn't even know him.

"Look, Lily," he said, feeling somewhat exposed and bare, " I don't need your pity, and you don't need my friendship. You know better than most people that I only hurt those people who care for me. Please… just leave me alone."

Lily frowned at his callous words; they were just so… un-Remus-like.

"Remus, I'm not approaching you out of pity. I know what it's like to—"

"Oh, you know what it's like, do you? Read about it in one of your many books, I bet! You know nothing about this, Evans." Remus said scathingly, all the tension and heartache he was feeling manifesting itself in his cruel words.

"_Actually, _Remus," Lily said, " I was going to say I know what it's like to be discriminated against because of something you can't help. 'Mudblood', remember? Look, I'm not saying I have any idea what you're going through, but I would like to."

Remus looked away sheepishly, already regretting his callous treatment of the girl. "So… how do you deal with it?" He asked.

"Oh, you know, the usual 'sticks and stones' philosophy. Plus it helps that I could beat them in most classes with my hands tied behind me back." Lily said, happy that her comment had dragged a small smile out of the boy. However, the smile was soon replaced with a look of confusion.

"Sticks and stones?" The boy asked, wondering at her bizarre choice of words.

Lily laughed at him and rolled her eyes. "Sorry, muggle thing."

"If you say so." Remus said.

The two teenagers smiled at each other but soon found the silence awkward. Both starting to speak at once, they smiled sheepishly and Lily indicated that Remus should speak.

"Lily, thank you for what you said, it really means a lot to me. I have to go to Madame Pomfrey's, I'm already late. But I was wondering… could I ask you a favor?"

"Of course!" Lily said, glad that the conversation had not been as awkward as she had envisioned. In her euphoria, she forgot the danger of promising a favor to a Marauder.

"Awesome. Well, I kind of ran off after James came to talk to me. He's probably still under the large tree by the lake, agonizing over last night. You wouldn't know it to look at him, but he's a worrier. Could you… talk to him? I will speak to him after Madame Pomfrey lets me out, but… well, you seem to calm him down."

Lily stared at him incredulously. '_I calm him down?_' What the bloody hell was that supposed to mean. Before Lily could question him, he scurried off in the direction of the hospital wing, leaving her gaping at his retreating figure.

Nervously tucking a strand of bright hair behind her small ear, Lily groaned and rolled her eyes heavenward.

Well, so much for a boring day!

--

The rain spattered softly against Lily's face as she pulled her old sweater tightly around her small frame. Her eyes were fixed on the outline of the boy that lay on his back under a tree to her left. He was sprawled out on the damp ground with his lithely muscled forearm resting over his eyes.

This was stupid, she thought to herself, he obviously wants to be left alone. Turning to go and berating herself for even coming out here, she almost didn't hear him when he spoke.

"Lily, wait."

Oh. She had thought she had been stealthy.

She stopped mid turn, but did not face him. Therefor she was surprised when he was suddenly by her side.

Apparently, stealth was not an issue for Potter.

"Hey..." Lily said, not really sure what to say.

"Hi." The boy answered.

The two teenagers stared at each other amid the raindrops, unsure of what to say.

"Wanna go inside?" James ventured, not entirely sure why this beautiful little woman was here, and not wanting to scare her off.

" 'Kay." Lily responded, her voice sounded small, even in her ears.

They walked slowly into the looming castle, and by silent consent they stopped in an unused hallway. Without words, they scrambled up on the high windowsill that allowed just enough space for their bodies. Lily swung her little legs as she pondered how to talk to this boy. Opening her mouth, she abruptly closed it and blushed at his intense stare.

"It's ok, Lily, I'd prefer... not to talk about it." James admitted softly.

The ominous 'it' hung heavily in the air.

"Oh. Right."Lily agreed, not sure what else she could say to this beautiful boy.

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Y'know," James said, his tone light and conversational, "For having lived in the same castle with you for years, I barely know you. The real you, I mean."

"The real me? This is the real me." Lily answered, confused.

James smiled at the puzzled look on her pretty face. "C'mon, Lily, you know what I mean, we all put on a show for other people."

Lily laughed. "James," she said, " _You _put on a show for other people, all the rest of us commoners tend to only have one face."

"Liar," James said softly, smiling. "But seriously, I feel I've had the chance to get to know you better this year, and I've gotta say, Lils, you've been holding out."

"Oh _really_, do enlighten me, Mister Potter."

"Mmhmm.. Well, I'm pretty sure, buried under all those books and assignments and extra credits, there may _actually _be a teenage girl." He knudged her shoulder jokingly.

"Y'know, Potter," Lily said, indignant, " Despite what your underdeveloped brain may think, I happen to be a very normal hormonal teenager."

James' eyebrows lifted in surprise at her forward comment.

"Oh, don't look so shocked, you bugger," Lily said, glad she had found something to distract him from his recent experiences. Every teenage boy liked to talk about sex, right? "I may be academically inclined, but I'm not frigid, or anything."

"That's not what, I mean, I wasn't saying... Err.. I didn't..." Wow. He had no idea what to say.

He looked embarrassed, but he didn't look sad or torn about Sirius. Lily congratulated herself, although she would die of embarrassment in the morning.

"Y'know, I read an article that said teenage boys think about sex roughly every 5 seconds." She blurted out.

"Uhhh..." James stuttered. Okay, his dream goddess was talking to him about sex, and he could only utter a few pathetic vowel sounds. Great.

"D'you think that's true?" She asked, her face a mask of innocent curiosity.

"Yes." He blurted out unthinkingly.

Surprised, she nodded thoughtfully and glanced at her watch, then at him, approximately every 5 seconds.

Jesus! He thought to himself. He crossed his legs.

"I think about it... Sometimes." She admitted.

Breath, Potter.

"Have you ever..." He couldn't even form the words.

"Oh. No." She answered, embarrassed. "Er, have you?"

"Um. Yeah." He responded.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"That's nice."

"Mmhmm."

They sat in awkward silence.

"Are you waiting for... marriage?" He asked tentatively.

"Um, no. Just for someone that I... love, I guess. I'm not sure... It's really intimidating. I mean, the only boy I've ever kissed was-" Lily stopped herself. Embarrassed, she knew that he understood that it was him.

James' entire body felt hot. His throat felt dry, and his pants were suddenly too tight. The image of Lily, his Lily, sprawled out in his bed with him came to his mind, as it so often did. Imagining the softness of her skin and the sweetness of her moans, he had to shake his head to dispel the erotic image before he embarrassed himself.

Glancing up, his eyes bored into hers and then fell to her lips. Staring at her rosebud mouth, his heart thumped loudly as he watched them part as she inhaled quickly.

Unthinking, and unable to stop himself, he leaned in slowly and his lips hovered centimeters from hers.

"Lily," he whispered fervently, "please, if you don't want this, you have to go, go now."

Lily was transfixed by his beautiful features. The stress of tonights events, the embarrassment of their recent conversation seemed to melt away as she stared at his full mouth.

"James," she whispered, "I... want this."

James groaned softly as the fervent words tumbled from her pink lips. Leaning in, he inhaled her soft scent as his lips softly touched hers. One of his hands slowly slid to entangle in her cascading hair, gripping her tresses in a suddenly passionate need to feel her.

His lips continued their soft exploration and when she gasped in desire, his tongue slipped into her hot mouth, reveling in the sweet taste of her. His other hand slid up the smooth expanse of her thigh, until it reached the innocent hem of her school skirt, left unhemmed, unlike so many of the other girls in the school. His hand reveled in the softness of her skin and his heart jumped wildly when her hands ran through his hair, sending frissons of need coursing through his body.

God, he wanted her. He wanted _all _of her. Instantly, he knew she would taste this sweet all over. He groaned at this revelation, and he knew that having tasted her, he would never be able to let her go. But he had to, at least tonight. She deserved better than this. At this rate, he would ravish her on a windowsill, and he wanted to give her more. He wanted to give her everything.

"Lily," he whispered fervently, "You need to go." His lips slid down to nip at her neck, causing her to moan with need.

She knew he was right, but his lips...

His hand slid down to cup her bum and he pulled her to him. His body slid down and their feet touched the floor, yet his lips continued to explore the fragrant skin of her neck.

"James!" Lily moaned, clutching his closer.

"Jesus," he muttered, turning her to lean against the wall. Wanting nothing more than to continue to kiss this goddess, he somehow managed to cease his erotic explorations. Resting his forehead against hers, he listened to the sound of their panting echoing down the hallway.

The two Gryffindors looked into each others eyes.

"I should... go." Lily said, unable to tear her eyes away.

"Yeah." James whispered, etching the sight of her swollen lips and messy hair into his brain.

Slowly, she eased out of his grasp and walked to the door leading towards their tower. Turning back, her eyes once again connected with James' before she slowly exited, leaving the boy staring after her, completely and totally in love.


End file.
